Third Time's a Charm
by Magikcard
Summary: Bora and Juvia didn't end well. Now Gray-sama shot Juvia down. Is Juvia's love life cursed? Juvia seems to only bring sadness and rain. Natsu-san? And Happy-san? What are you two doing here? Fishing? B—but Juvia is just a monster and—wait, when did Natsu-san get so handsome? Could this be Juvia's third chance? Guess Juvia will have to see if it's really lucky or just an expression.
1. Chapter 1: A Lake Encounter

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail does not belong to me**

* * *

It hurts, it really hurts. Juvia's heart hurts, her chest constricted when those word fell to her ears. Gray-sama…why? Drip, drip, drop. The rain Juvia's so used to poured down onto her like the words he said: cold, relentless, without mercy. Why did this happen? Streams of tears came down Juvia's cheek as her legs were pressed up against her chest, chin gently nestled in between her knees. Am I not good enough? Gray-sama, what's so great about that woman?

* * *

It happened so suddenly, Juvia was sitting on a bench alone with a cake on her lap waiting for her beloved. She woke up early in the morning to bake the cake. Now, Gray-sama will be hers at last. She can just imagine it now: Gray-sama will come in; Juvia will present the cake, and then: "Ohh, Juvia! You can make such a great cake? You're truly the only one for me!" Gray-sama will sweep Juvia off her feet and into t—the Bridal Carry! "Juvia, let's get married" Ohh, Gray-sama, Juvia's face is all red just thinking of it, please come quickly. How many kids do you want? Five? Ten? Fifty? Doesn't matter, Juvia will answer to all your desires no matter how ambitious it is.

Then, it happened. Juvia's beloved walked in—shirtless as always—looking as handsome as ever, his muscles, those eyes…ahhh, steam is already coming off Juvia. Must calm down. Wait, l—love rival? Why is love rival clinging her arm to Gray-sama? And they look so happy, Juvia has never seen Gray-sama look so happy. It's not his birthday or is it 'Admire Gray-sama Day', nor is it 'Love Gray-sama Day'. So why? Juvia stared at love rival with hate for her growing with each step the two took. They were at the centre of guild before Gray-sama finally said something. "Guys, we got an announcement to make." Gray-sama locked hands with love rival, stared intimately into her eyes, filled with love, passion, nothing he ever looked at Juvia before. And she stared back with the same expression, with the same intensity "Me and Lucy are…in a relationship."

Juvia was shocked. In the thunderous cheers and claps, Juvia only remembered rushing towards Gray-sama, cake in hand and presenting it to him.

"G—Gray-sama, here, I baked a cake for you. It has all of Juvia's feelings in it, please accept—"

"I can't." He replied quickly.

"W—why?"

"I'm with Lucy, that's why."

"At least try to—" Gray-sama knocked the cake out of Juvia's hands, sending it to the ground. All those hours, ingredients, lessons from Mira-san, fell to the floor with a dull splat. Juvia looked into Gray-sama's eyes, they were full of shock and regret.

"Juvia, I'm really sorry, but I'm not interested in a relationship with you. I don't ask much favours from you so, consider this my last." Gray-sama bit his lips. "Please understand and don't go after me anymore. Also, I'm really sorry about the cake, I promise to make it up for you." He gave me one last smile before moving his eyes away from me. Out of desperation and hoping it was just a cruel joke. Juvia grabbed Gray-sama's arm. His response was kissing love rival right in front of Juvia. He also said something else but, Juvia couldn't hear it. Her heart was pounding in pain, Juvia gripped her chest to ease it, only to make it worse. So Juvia ran. Faster than Juvia thought she could, Juvia ran, accidently trampling on her feelings. Juvia slipped, the pain from her fall was nothing compared to Juvia's broken heart. After Juvia picked herself up, Juvia ran once more, tears finally flowing from her eyes and screaming into the darkening sky. Drip, drip, drop.

* * *

Sitting beside a lake, Juvia wept, hoping to carry away her feeling for Gray-sama. But it didn't. The tears only made it worse. Screaming helped a little, until juvia's throat hurt with each passing breath she took, then it only tore through Juvia's body. Juvia didn't even feel this bad when Bora left her. Juvia felt weak, her legs were numb, and her arms were shaking. At least the rain made it so Juvia can't see her ugly face, even if its pelting Juvia like icicles. Icicles…Gray-sama. Juvia screamed again, coughed at the pain and screamed again. This cycle repeated. Finally, the pain in Juvia's throat is starting to overide out the pain in her heart, so Juvia stopped.

Juvia sat there for a long time, the water level reached up to her shin. Maybe the water can carry Juvia away. It's her just deserts for attempting at love again. Juvia was so foolish as to…

Perhaps Juvia should just die, Juvia is just making thing worse for the people around her. Juvia spotted a dead bee, wings wet. It couldn't get to shelter in time and was drowned by Juvia's rain. Juvia caused this, she really is a monster. Juvia should just—

"Happy, wanna see who gets the biggest fish?"

"Aye sir!" Juvia turned to the voice and saw Natsu-san holding a beach umbrella in his right hand. On his left, he was holding two fishing poles and a bucket with a few worms climbing over the lip of it. Perched on the dragon slayer shoulder, was his blue cat friend which, was using a bucket as a hat.

"Whoever loses will have to go into Erza's room and sign her bed with a marker."

"We'll die!"

"No way! You will," Natsu-san flashed a cocky grin. "I'm gonna win this!"

"Then I'll catch a fish so big that you'll have to help me reel it in."

"I help you every time!" Natsu-san claimed.

"Only on the fish that's bigger than me!" Happy countered.

"That's all of them!"

"No, it's not!" The two friends butted head for a while and somehow manage to not notice Juvia, which wasn't far from them. Natsu-san decided to drop their argument by stabbing the umbrella in the ground, set up bait on the hooks and handed a fishing poles to Happy. Happy scooped some water into the bucket and placed it near the umbrella. The two casted their hooks and propped the poles to a rock before sitting down on some grass that Natsu dried.

"By the way, I thought we still had some fish back home."

"I ate it all."

"What?" Natsu-san looked hurt and angry at the same time. "Why didn't you save some for me?"

"You're the one that woke up so late, it's already one in the afternoon!" That surprised Juiva. Juvia has been crying for six hours?

"It's not my fault that my brain told me to sleep for so long."

"Liar, you don't even have a brain"

"What was that ya bastard?"

"It's the truth, everyone thinks so. Right Juvia?" Happy-san moved the ball to my court. Wait, he noticed Juvia?

"What are you talking abou— Juvia!? When were you here!?" Having just noticed Juvia, Natsu-san shot up from his seat.

"Seeeeee, you are stupid, you can't even spot Juvia when she's a few steps away!"

"Only this one time I was stupid!"

"What about when you forgot to get off the train?"

"I was sick!"

"The train stopped!"

"Erza's punch got me better than I thought!"

"Liar!" Juvia could only watch and see the two friends got into each other's faces over the dumbest things. The two were panting by the time they finished their banter, not even a single tug on either of the fishing lines during this. How absurd. Yet, it was that absurdity that brought Juvia back to a better place.

"Natsu-san, Happy-san, thank you."

"Why?" "What for?" They said at the same time.

"For cheering me up."

"But me and Happy didn't do anything."

"Yeah, Natsu was just being Natsu."

"What do you mean by that?" Natsu-san was about start another war but sighed and sat back down. "Juvia, who hurt you?" Natsu's eye became serious. Juvia seen it before when his friends were harmed. Juvia is his friend? Juvia shook her head and put on a wry smile.

"Juvia did." Natsu what silent; confused, but silent. "Juvia pestered Gray-sama when he already has lov—Lucy-san. So Gray-sama shot Juvia down."

"Juvia…" Happy-san dug into his bag and pulled out a blue fish. "want a fish? It'll make you feel better."

"Hey Happy, you said we ran out of fish."

"This one is my snack."

"You greedy bastard, first you eat all the fish, then you hide some from me!?"

"Yup." The cat deadpanned. "Ignore Natsu Juvia, he's just hungry."

"What do you mean 'just'? I'm starving here!" Juvia helplessly watched Natsu roll around moaning for food like a child.

"Happy-san, Juvia thinks you should give the fish to Natsu, it seems like he needs it more than Juvia does." Natsu-san appeared in front of me suddenly sporting a smile that suits children more.

"Really?" Natsu-san looked at Juvia hopefully.

"Yes, Juvia isn't hungry."

"Hear that Happy? Now hand over the fish."

"Aye." Natsu-san tossed the fish in the air; blasted it with a torrent of flames; and swallowed it whole.

"Thanks, you saved my life Juvia."

"Natsu-san is exaggerating things, it's just a fish."

"Never mind that, come over here."

"Ehh?"

"It's better to sit under an umbrella right?" Natsu-san threw a smile that was impossible to reject at Juvia. Reluctantly, Juvia sat next to Natsu-san on the right with Happy-san on the left. When did the rain get smaller?

"Sorry. Because of Juvia, Natsu-san had to bring an umbrella."

"It's not that big of deal, I was already carrying some stuff." Natsu-san grabbed his fishing pole and reeled in a fish the size of a finger. He growled in disappointment and threw the fish back in the lake. Happy-san seemed to have the same problem.

"Aye. Besides, Natsu is strong." Juvia heard Natsu-san hook splash back in the water as she stared into the ripples it created.

"Not everyone is like that Natsu-san, people hate the rain, it messes things up for everyone."

"Then you just have to be happy right?"

"It's not that sim—"

"No it is. There is no point in looking so deeply, you'll only cloud yourself by doing that. If you're sad, find a way cheer up, if you're happy, keep being happy, use what you have. And if you can't find it alone, your family is always there for you. We'll support you, that's what a family is—that's what Fairy Tail is." Natsu-san for once has an expression that is hard to read. A mixture of melancholy and relief. He was looking at his fishing float bob up and down. Yet, it's like we're not seeing the same thing.

"Natsu, I bet you just stole that from master didn't you? There's no way you came up with that on your own." Happy-san snickered, shrugging his shoulders to exaggerate.

"S—shut up, I can be smart too." Natsu-san pouted at his companion's accusations.

"Whether Natsu-san stole it or not, it really helped me. So, thank you Natsu-san. Although, I agree with Happy-san." Suddenly, Happy-san and Natsu-san high-fived. "What happened?"

"You finally—" Happy-san started.

"Smiled" Natsu-san finished.

"Were you two fighting on purpose?"

"Nope." "Yup." Another fight started.

"Natsu! It's obvious that was to cheer Juvia up."

"Well you tell me the plan beforehand."

"How should I know that she was unhappy?"

"You're my partner aren't you? You should've known."

"Don't be unreasonable! This is why people think you're an idiot."

"What was that? Say it one more time, I dare you!"

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stuuuuupid."

"Now you've done it. I'm gonna—" Natsu-san didn't get to finish as he turned his focus to Juvia that was laughing at their antics. Juvia couldn't see anything, she was rolling on the ground with tears coming out of her eyes. Juvia's throat still hurts but, the feeling in Juvia's heart is covering it up.

"Happy?"

"What?" Natsu-san grinned.

"Quest complete!" They high-fived once more.

"Aye!" Somehow, both of them did something that Juvia thinks to be impossible. Juvia opened her eyes, only to close them because something bright stung Juvia's eyes. The sun is back! And in plain sight, was a huge rainbow. The gloomy forest now had a golden sheen to it. Leaves scattered away the last bits of water and took in sunlight with joy.

"As always, a forest that just had rain is the prettiest." Natsu-san commented. "Who would've thought huh? Gray and Lucy."

"Natsu! We worked so hard to—"

"It's fine Happy-san, I need to get over it. And if I can't do it alone, I always have my family right?"

"Aye sir!" The blue cat's smile contorted into shock and pointed to two fishing poles in the middle of the lake. "The fish!"

"My food!" Natsu complained. Juvia dove into the lake and in no time, grabbed both fishing poles before using magic to send whatever that was caught into the air. Two fish that was twice of Juvia's height rocketed out of the water.

"Water Slicer!" Two streaks of water struck the airborne fishes and sent them back to Natsu-san and Happy-san with a satisfying thud. "Juvia got the fishes back."

""Ju—Juvia, that was cool!""

"Ehh?"

"If it was Natsu, he would've just blasted the lake away and ruined everything."

"I have more control than that Happy."

"Then why do you destroy everything when we go on a quest?"

"They pissed me off."

"You have no control then!"

"I do!"

"Ummm…Natsu-san, I caught the fishes right?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"That means Juvia won the bet." Happy-san face just had horror plastered all over his face. While Natsu-san was as clueless as ever.

"What are you…" Juvia felt her smile get bigger, whereas Natsu-san's face got paler. "W—wait, J—Juiva you weren't apart of the deal, it was just between Happy and me. That's why it doesn't count."

"Natsu-san," Juvia began sternly. "it's too late to make excuses. You two have to go in Erza-san's room and sign her bed."

"P—please, we'll do anything."

"Anything?"

"Yes…"

"Then…" Juvia took in a deep breath for effect. "bring Juvia a fishing pole next time." They were dazed at first, then Natsu-san gave Juvia the biggest smile she had ever seen.

"Sure."

"Natsu-san, Happy-san: thank you for everything." Juvia said as she left for home, waving at the two idiots.

"Come back anytime." Natsu-san returned, keeping that charming smile of his. Juvia soon couldn't see the lake and got back on a proper pavement. Natsu-san and Happy-san answered many of my trouble. However, one question was still unanswered: Was Natsu-san always this handsome?

* * *

 **That's my first story submitted to this website, and what a fun one!(Juvia is an interesting character to write a first-person-perspective story on)**

 **I hope that you enjoyed it, please give me your thoughts e.g. How well I portrayed the characters, the writing(was there too much dialogue and not enough description)**

 **On the side note, after reading lots of things on this website, it finally made me want to write my own. Hopefully I didn't make Gray seem too cruel. I tried to make the rejection that makes a bit more sense for someone that grew up in such a bubbly guild.**

 **I'm keeping this story incomplete for now, it'll depend on if people want to see more of this story. I tried to make the ending satisfying but still had a sense of incompleteness that lets people to spin off from here. But if do want to see more, you might have to wait so I can gather some ideas. If not, I'll just put an epilogue and wrap things up.**

 **That's it from me! Hope you enjoy and i'm eager for your feedback.**


	2. Chapter 2: Moving On

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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Juvia finally managed to step back into the guild, it's already night time, Juvia can hear the active nocturnal animals run about. Along with the glass of wine that Juvia is drinking, it helps Juvia calm down. Juvia still hasn't gotten over Gray-sama, it's been three days since then. The guild lights casted long shadows of Juvia, the amber coat of the guild isn't something Juvia is used to, she never would spend so much time at the guild. Afterall…Gray-sama would always leave before eleven, so Juvia would follow him. Who could blame him? There aren't much people to hang with at this time, save the old men with problems at home.

"Juvia-san, I think you should stop drinking so much." Out of the corner of Juvia's eye, she could see several white locks of hair dangling close with Juvia's messy blue ones.

"Mira-san, can you please leave me be? Juvia wants to be alone with her wine."

"You know I can't do that, as your friend." Mira-san sat down next to Juvia and brought out a wine glass. "Would you let me hear your troubles?"

"Mira-san…" Mira-san took Juvia's bottle of wine and poured some into her own glass then topped off Juiva's.

"You shouldn't keep things bottled up for too long, it's bad for your looks."

"Does it matter anymore? Gray-sama left me for lo—Lucy-san, why should Juvia keep up her looks?"

"You never know, someone might catch your eye."

"That won't happen, no one likes a gloomy woman, so Juvia won't look for one."

"But you're not?"

"How so?"

"When I was teaching you how to bake, those moments of happiness weren't bound to Gray or anyone else, you enjoyed cooking from the bottom of your heart, anyone that can smile like that isn't a gloomy person at all." Mira-san smiled gently and took a sip of her drink.

"Thank you." Silence claimed the guild for a few seconds and allowed Juvia to take in what Mira-san said. "About the cake, Juvia is sorry for wasting Mira-san's time and efforts."

"It wasn't wasted. Spending time with your family is never a waste of time, in fact, I believe we should cherish those moments. I learned that after Lisanna left us for a while." Mira-san has a complicated face, she was happy and sad at the same time. "Now that Lisanna came back, we've been spending time together more often."

"Then why doesn't Gray-sama want to spend time with Juvia? Does Gray-sama hate Juvia?" Juvia took a big gulp from her glass, the warmth spreading to Juvia's cheeks and the pounding of her heart was just what Juvia needed. Mira-san topped off Juvia's glass before she spoke.

"It's not that Gray hates you, it more than he doesn't see you as a lover, but a part of his family."

"Why not Lucy-san too!?"

"That's a bit more complicated. I think it's that Juvia-san has been too aggressive with your approach and has turned Gray off. Perhaps you didn't show enough of your good side?" Mira-san place a finger on her chin. "Aha, meanwhile Lucy wasn't really like that. Her approach must have charmed Gray in a way that you couldn't"

"So Juvia is no good?"

"Where did you get that? Mira is saying that Juvia-san used the wrong method."

"Don't copy Juvia!" How could she steal Juvia's trademark? And with such a cute face too!

"My bad, my bad." Mira-san now has a playful smile. "Anyway, I think that you should let your feelings simmer for a while, see if they have changed in any way."

"What if they do?"

"If you don't love Gray anymore, that great isn't it? If you still do, then you should give it another go."

"Thank you, Mira-san! Juvia will try her bes—ah...to be honest, Juvia doesn't know anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"When Juvia saw Gray-sama with L—Lucy-san, Gray-sama was so happy, Juvia has never seen Gray-sama look so happy. So maybe, Juvia can't provide what Gray-sama wants?"

"Then what will you do?"

"Juvia thinks that she should give up."

"Is that from your instincts? Or is that from your kindness?"

"Juvia doesn't know…" After drinking a few more glasses, Juvia feels sluggish.

"You don't want to fight with Lucy, but you don't want to lose Gray. At the same time, you feel like you're not good enough, is that right?"

"That's right…but, something feels off…"

"If it's from your instincts, you should follow it, after all, a woman's intuition can't be wrong right?" We sat in silence for a while. The occasional grumbling of drunk men kept us company.

"Perhaps…Mira-san is right…Juvia should…follow her instincts…" Juvia feels heavy, Juvia wants to sleep. Juvia heard a door opening, it was really echo-y.

"Mira…I'm finally back from…quest…it really was…" Who is that? I can't hear.

"Aye…"

"Natsu? Perfect…carry Juvia-san…Hills…she's a bit…from the drinking." Mira-san? Natsu is here? At this time?

"Why…you do it?"

"Because I'm…with…so you do it."

"Alright fine!" Someone is coming…who…is it? Juvia can't see anything.

* * *

Juvia woke up to a full moon and countless stars dancing in the sky, they were bouncing up and down rhythmically, like someone's footsteps.

"Where is Juvia?" Someone is carrying Juvia. This person's back is warm, Juvia couldn't resist driving her cheeks closer

"You woke?"

"N—Natsu-san!?" That voice, the pink hair, it's Natsu-san, there is no doubt about that. But why?

"Shhhh..." Natsu-san warned quietly. "Happy is sleeping."

"Eh?" Juvia looked around and sure enough, a ball of blue fur was on Natsu-san's head. "Umm…Natsu-san you can put me down now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Natsu-san stopped and let Juvia off. Juvia's legs feels wobbly and weak. Upon taking two steps, Juvia's legs gave away and sent Juvia down to the dirt path. But Juvia didn't hit the ground.

"I think that's enough proof for me to carry you back." Natsu-san chuckled. Juvia fell on top of Natsu-san's back. He kneeled down and waited for Juvia to get on.

"W—wait, Juvia can still—"

"I have to get back home too, don't be so stubborn."

"R—right." Juvia climbed onto Natsu-san, which was hard with a dress.

"Are you steady?"

"Y—yes." Juvia's body felt lighter for a split second, her vision got elevated and soon, Juvia saw a green field illuminated with white, soft light from the moon and stars. Countless, faint pillars of light shone down from the stars, fireflies added their own green and yellow glow. A dirt path stretched out to the beyond, over that hill should be Juvia's home.

"So, why were you up so late?"

"Juvia was drinking away her feelings for Gray-san..."

"Gray again huh? Well, don't work yourself up, you need to rest too."

"Thank you for worrying about Juvia, Natsu-san. But, Juvia can take care of herself."

"But your throat still hasn't recovered yet right? And you're not at home resting"

"Y—yes." He noticed? Natsu-san isn't as dumb as Juvia as she thought he is.

"You really shouldn't speak so much for the next few days."

"Juvia has no one to talk to anyway, so Natsu-san has nothing to worried about."

"Again with that kind of talk? I told that you have your family the turn back to. We will always help you." Juvia can't see it. However, Natsu-san is probably smiling right now. Juvia has no idea why, but she pressed closer to Natsu-san. His warmth travelled up from Juvia's chest to her head, then made its way down to Juvia's legs. Juvia wonders why…Juvia feels calm with Natsu-san. He didn't mean to but, Natsu-san's ups and downs rocked Juvia gently like a baby.

"Hey Natsu-san?"

"What is it?"

"Can Juvia rely on you to get over Gray-sama?"

"Do you really need to ask? Friends is always there for each other."

"That's right…Juvia was being silly wasn't she?"

"Oh yeah, about what happened at the lake, do you want to come back there next week to fish? Or do you want to go earlier?"

"Let's see…well, Juvia is trying to get Gray-sama off her mind right now, so maybe tomorrow?

"I'm always ready, it just depends on you."

"Then tomorrow it is."

"Have you ever fished before?"

"No. Juvia didn't have anyone teach her."

"It's easy, you just have to hook a bait and go 'splash' and you'll have a fish in no time."

"What's that supposed to mean? Juvia thinks she should just ask Happy-san instead."

"I taught Happy, so it should be fine right?"

"I takes an idiot to teach an idiot huh?" Juvia muttered under her breath.

"What was that!?"

"You heard that!? S—sorry."

"You're on my back, anyone can hear you when you are this close." Natsu-san suddenly stopped moving. "Well, here we are." Juvia tilted her head sideways and saw the familiar mansion-like building. Standing at the doorway was Erza-san.

"Juvia, we were worried about you." Erza-san said.

"See Juvia? You'll always have someone to lean against," Natsu-san looked at Juvia with a smile. "whether its Erza, me, Mira, or even gramps, as long you're a Fairy Tail member, you can't be alone."

"Natsu, thanks for taking Juvia back here. However, you didn't do anything to her right?" Erza-san asked Natsu-san menacingly, her brown eye bore right into the dragon slayer like daggers.

"O—of course not! W—who do you think I am?" Erza-san's terrifying visage disappeared instantly. Replacing it was a smile that contradicts her previous expression. Natsu-san let me down and made sure Erza-san got a good grip on Juvia before separating. "Well, see ya!" Natsu-san ran off as he waved back to us.

"Goodnight." "Take care." Erza-san guided Juvia back into her room. To which generated a frown from the knight.

"Hey Juvia, should you really keep your 'tributes' up the way they are." Erza pointed to the paintings and dolls of Gray-sama, after setting Juvia on her bed. To be honest, Juvia wasn't sure, Juvia has gotten used to the decorations, and taking them down would make the room look weird. Then again, Juvia is trying to take her mind off Gray-sama. Besides since the day at the lake, those pictures caused Juvia nothing but grief not love…

"Erza-san makes a great point, Juvia will take them down tomorrow, but, Juvia is tired. Juvia will do it later." Erza-san walked up a full-portrait of Gray-sama and, tore it down! She didn't even do it delicately, Gray-sama's face was now broken in half.

"W—W—what is Erza-san doing?"

"Helping you of course, might as well do it now." Erza-san made her way to the next piece of art and tore it down too, then the next, and the one after that, until, there wasn't a single complete Gray-sama in the room. Juvia must admit that she felt slightly uncomfortable from seeing her love being rendered to trash. At the time, Juvia felt relieved, like she is on her first step to moving on from Gray-sama—or is it Gray-san? Gray-kun? Just Gray? Juvia will figure it out once her feelings are settled. Erza-san changed her clothes to a cleaning lady's uniform; produced a bag out of nowhere along with other cleaning equipment; finally, then tidied up the mess she made in a storm of red and white.

"Well then Juvia, goodnight."

"Ah…goodnight. Also, thank you for helping me."

"Don't worry about."

"If you like, Juvia can bake you a strawberry cake for you."

"Is t—that so, w—well I don't really need it."

"Juvia understands. Then, goodnight." Erza-san's face turned from stoic, to reluctant, to regret in a span of less than a second. "Juvia is joking, don't worry, Juvia will bake a cake for you, Erza-san really likes cake."

"Really!?" Relief was brimming from her face. Juvia couldn't help but laugh at the sudden changes.

"Erza-san really likes cake don't you?"

"Is there a problem?"

"No."

"Juvia, just don't overwork yourself, my cake is less important than your health."

"Juvia has got it all under control, goodnight."

"Goodnight." Juvia's room fell into darkest with the door closing. Juvia wrapped herself with a blue quilt she made herself and dosed off to dreamland.

It's not as warm.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. I'm glad that some people are interested in this story and I was really surprised that someone already followed this story, thank you very much; I'll try my best to meet your expectations.**

 **This time, I want to know if there is too much dialogue and not enough description to let you guys imagine the scene out. Also, sorry for not describing what the characters look like, I thought that people will get the idea of what they look like via the mange/anime so I got a bit lazy. If you want me to write about these things, let me know!(I will write about clothes if I deem it to be important)**

 **About the story itself, let me know if the way the characters talk seems like the same person, I try to make a clear distinction between Natsu and Juvia but the others might be a bit more muddled. If you think this happened(I'm biased), let me know and I'll do something about it.**

 **Until then, thank you for reading, hope you can give me some great feedback!**


	3. Chapter 3: Fishing For Fun

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

"Gray-sama, wait up!"

Yes, Juvia has finally done it! Gray-sama is finally Juvia's. We were walking along a flowery field that could represent a rainbow; a wild, chaotic rainbow. Flowers of different species and colours bloomed spectacularly, no pattern at all, yet beautiful to see the flowers mingle each other without problems, just like love. And Juvia's love has finally paid off! Now Juvia just has to catch up to Gray-sama for taking our picnic basket and running off. Just wait Gray-sama, your love will catch up soon enough. Juvia took off at blinding speed, spending petals into the sky as she past by flowers.

Juvia could see Gray-sama running further ahead laughing, yes that smile, Gray-sama is finally showing Juvia that smile that is reserved for Lucy-san. Juvia has won! Now for her reward. Juvia pounced at her love and tackled him down into a bed of flowers, kicking up a rainbow in the process.

"Graaaaaaay-sama! Juvia caught you." Gray-sama laughed again. That smile could kill Juvia, it's making Juvia's heart race.

"Yeah you did," Gray-sama looked into Juvia's eyes lovingly, we were so close our nose would touch with the slightest tap. "here's your reward." Gray-sama closed the final gap between Juvia and Gray-sama's lips. Ahh, Juvia is so happy. When we separated, Gray-sama was gone! Pink hair; sharp, onyx eyes; a white scarf wrapped snuggly around the newcomer's neck. Natsu-san! But…what is he doing here? And where is Gray-sama?

"Juvia…" Natsu-san kissed Juvia's forehead. Ehh? N—Natsu-san? Why isn't Juvia pulling away? Juvia belongs to Gray-sama. But…this doesn't feel too bad. Natsu-san's warmth quickly spreaded throughout Juvia's head. Juvia's cheeks feels hot…blushing? N—no it must be the heat. Juvia then felt Natsu-san pull away, bringing the warmth and comfort with him...

Wait! Don't go! Juvia lost all reasoning and pushed Natsu-san down and planted her lips onto Natsu-san's. It felt better than with Gray-sama, Juvia feels…complete. Natsu-san's warmth is back, and how addicting it is! Wanting more, Juvia wrapped her right hand around Natsu-san shoulders and tugged on his hair with Juvia's left.

When we separated, Natsu-san was looking into Juvia's eyes with passion, they told Juvia to forget about Gray-sama, to let go of the past, to love someone else. Someone that will cherish Juvia.

"Juvia, I love you." Natsu-san said simply

"M—me too…N—Natsu-sama…" 'Sama!?' No! This isn't Juvia, Juvia loves Gray-sama! But, why does it feel so good to be in Natsu-san's arms? Natsu-san abruptly pulled Juvia into another kiss. Juvia can't pull out, she can't move! Juvia doesn't feel disgust but, happiness?

"Well, see ya." Everything started to blur, the flowers—the colours were turning grey. Natsu-san is gone, he's getting further away. Wait! Juvia stretched her arms out as far as they could, forcing a few centimetres at the cost of pain. Don't leave Juvia alone! Juvia doesn't want to be lonely anymore, Gray-sama, Natsu-san, anyone! Please…don't leave Juvia alone…

* * *

Juvia shot up. Juvia feels sick, as if she ate something foul. Juvia felt her face…tears? She then traced her lips, Natsu-san...that right! Juvia promised to go fishing with Natsu-san and Happy-san, and it's already ten! She must get ready. Juvia ran to her closet and tried on different clothes. Since Juvia is fishing, should she wear something water resistant? Or something that dry quickly? Maybe Natsu-san can dry Juvia for her? Juvia continued this back and forth for some time, two hours of it.

"Hey Laki, what should we get for lunch?" A voice seeped into Juvia's room.

"How about we try that cute looking restaurant that opened last week?" Another voice.

"Good idea! Let's go before there's too much people." The sound of running that came after quickly petered into nothing. The awkward silence told Juvia that she has playing around for two hours. Juvia hurriedly threw on a pair of jeans, a white shirt and a blue blouse before rushing outside, leaving the door opened.

"Juvia? What's wrong? You seemed to be in a hurry." A voice from before made Juvia stop from opening the front door of Fairy Hills.

"Laki-san, Juvia is in a hurry so Juvia will talk to you later." Juvia didn't even give time for Laki-san to respond as Juvia was already running along a dirt path towards the lake Natsu-san found Juvia at.

* * *

Juvia made it past the forest clearing and a lake presented itself. Juvia didn't have time to admire the lake last time she was here since she had other things in her mind, so what Juvia saw really shocked her.

The flooded lake Juvia made corrected itself, revealing short plants along the bank. The lake was clear enough to allow Juvia to pick up on the small animals swimming around with great detail. Several wild animals gathered on the banks for a drink. What stood of the most was of course, a pink-haired dragon slayer and his blue companion. As Juvia got closer, she could make out what they were saying.

"Natsu, can't we start without her?"

"No, I'm going to teach her, so if she came when we're fishing, we might lose a big one to teach her." Guilt sprung from Juvia's heart hearing those words, making Juvia quicken her pace.

"But Natsuuu, I'm so hungry I only had a small fish on the way here, you don't need two rods to teach, so can't I start first." Juvia felt uncomfortable hearing the whining, it's all Juvia's fault for not waking up, stupid dreams. Juvia poured more strength into her strides

"I guess you ca—"

"Sorry! Juvia was late."

"No problem, I didn't really say what time we should meet here at."

"T—then how long has Natsu-san been waiting?"

"Umm…Happy, how long have we been here?"

"Since ten." Juvia feels really bad now, if she wasn't fooling around these two wouldn't have to starve, Juvia will make it up to them by catching a big one!

"That long!? It's almost one! We should start now!" Juvia's voice was shaky. Worse, her brain was plagued with guilt.

"Happy can start without us. Here." Natsu-san handed Juvia a fishing rod. "Now watch me." Juvia watched intently at how Natsu-san set up bait on a hook along with how he casted the rod. "Now, it's your turn." Juvia picked up a worm from the bucket they have and speared like Natsu-san showed, it was a bit messy but Juvia did it. Natsu-san stifled a laugh watching Juvia.

"Did Juvia do something wrong?"

"No, I was thinking when I went fishing with Lisanna, I would always be the one to set up the worms, she's afraid of these little guys. And I see you handle the worms just fine."

"Juvia was alone for a long time, she had to talk to many things to keep her company like bugs, cats, walls, anything that had a face or could move."

"I see…" Natsu-san tapped onto his fishing pole in sets of three. "It's great that you came to Fairy Tail isn't it? You now have lots of friends to talk to."

"Yeah…"

"By the way, you seem to doing better."

"Huh?"

"I mean, yesterday you looked like a mess, your hair was messy, bags were under your eyes."

"Mira-san and Erza-san helped out a lot…o—of course Natsu-san helped me out the most! It's just…it'll take a while for Juvia to bounce back into the girl everyone knows."

"I know, when Lisanna left, Happy and I were sad. I couldn't so anything to help save her. To this day, I think if I was there with Mira and the others, Lisanna wouldn't have been away at all." Juvia didn't know what to say, the conversation died instantly.

"Look Natsu! I got a big one!" We turned to a struggling cat that was digging his paws into the mud getting dragged slowly into the lake. Natsu-san quickly came over and reeled the fish out in one pull. It was three times bigger than Happy-san, drawing his drool in a heartbeat. "Ca—can I eat it?"

"Just kill it first."

"Aye sir!" Natsu sat back down next to Juvia with one leg propped up and stared off into the lake.

"Natsu-san."

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you bothered by Lucy-san dating Gray-sama?"

"Hah? What are you talking about?"

"Don't you love Lucy-san?"

"Nope."

"Love is too complicated for Natsu." Happy-san snickered; stained paws held a knife that was cutting off the tail of a now dead fish. Surprisingly scary.

"Hey!" Happy-san hung the fish on a branch and watch the blood drain from the fish, drool coming down like a waterfall.

"Then has Natsu-san ever loved anyone?"

"Never. Although, I remember Igneel saying something like give him lots of grandchildren, at least two."

"This might come across as degrading but, does Natsu-san know how to make children?"

"Erza did a lousy job in explaining, it was Gildarts that told me and Lisanna. When we were twelve at that! Dirty old man! That was also the first time I've seen Gildarts scared."

"Why?"

"Mira." Natsu simply said. An image of Mira-san in her demon form lacking any compassion chasing after Gildarts-san popped in Juvia's mind.

"Juvia can see it."

"Right? Man, that was fun." Natsu-san laid down on the grass using his hands as pillows.

"Juvia is a little bit jealous that everyone at Fairy Tail has so many memories. Juvia's life until now was—"

"You can just make some memories." Natsu-san pointed out. "Though, not every one is good." Happy-san came flying in wielding a skeleton of a fish and smacked Natsu-san right in the face. "What was that for!?"

"For being Natsu."

"You're not making sense."

"Retard."

"What was—"

"Natsu-san!" Juvia pointed to her fishing rod. "What should Juvia do?" The fishing pole was jerking side to side, the line was taut, not limp like when Juvia first casted the hook.

"Start pulling, not too quickly!" Juvia did as told, she pulled and reeled when the fish wasn't moving too much. Just when Juvia was about to lose it, Natsu-san grabbed Juvia's hand and helped her. With help, Juvia managed to pull the fish out of the water, it wasn't as big as Happy-san's but around the size Juvia would find in the market. More importantly, success was ringing in Juvia's head, her heart was beating, could Natsu-san hear it I wonder? The fish was flailing wildly, flinging water at Juvia and Natsu-san. Natsu-san held the fishing line and trailed it down to the hook.

"Juvia, hold the fish by the hook." Natsu-san gave the fish to Juvia. Then rummaged his pockets for something. He pulled out a lacrima? "Juvia, hold still. I'm going to take a picture."

"Ehh?"

"You want to make memories right?"

"Y—yes, b—but Juvia's hai—"

"Okay, cheese." A flash engulfed Juvia, followed by a roar of laughter. Worry started to bubble. Was the picture not good?

"Happy, look at this!" Natsu-san's blue-fur friend hovered over his shoulder. Juvia became more worried after seeing Happy-san's signature face he has when he's trying to hold in laughter.

"H—hurry up! Juvia wants to see what's so funny!" Natsu-san came over and showed Juvia the picture…Juvia wants to die…

Juvia had a flustered face on, her hair was super messy and unkept. To make it worse, the fish was covering one of Juvia's eye!

"Natsu-san! You should have told Juvia you were going to take photos, Juvia would at least comb her hair!" Juvia has never wanted to strangle the dragon-slayer-cat combo until now. It's no use, they can't hear Juvia at all, laugher was drowning it out, there is only one option. Juvia ran at the dragon slayer. "Give Juvia the lacrima now!" Natsu-san jumped out of the way, but Juvia kept chasing. You won't get away from Juvia who has been chasing after Gray-sama!

"I'm giving a copy of it to Mira and Erza, I'm sure they'll love it." Natsu-san dodged Juvia's advances like a pro.

"At least take a different one!"

"Happy, catch!" Natsu-san tossed the lacrima high into the air for Happy-san to swoop in and catch it masterfully. Of all times to be competent, why now? When Juvia's dignity is on the line? Juvia tried to shoot the cat down with magic. But it was either dodged or intercepted by Natsu-san. And the cat was gone…along with Juvia's reputation. Juvia will get back you for this, Natsu Dragneel.

"Why did you do that Natsu-san!? And Juvia was planning to give you the fish as an apology…"

"Apology?"

"For making you wait so long."

"You can't apologies if I never took offense to it." Natsu-san gave Juvia a grin that seemed to defuse the anger in Juvia's heart.

"Then, Natsu-san will have to fish his own meal."

"That's what I planned from the start." As if on cue, Natsu-san's fishing pole moved in the same manner as Juvia's before; only exaggerated and wilder. Unlike Juvia, Natsu-san pulled the fish out without effort. "Now, let's eat."

"Can you really eat such a big fish by yourself?"

"If it wasn't this big, I won't be full." Natsu-san ran off to his supplies—where he keeps his bait and live-catch buckets. Bringing back with him, was a bundle of firewood and two skewers "Juvia, help me grab some rocks and set up a fireplace."

"Okay." Juvia picked up some rocks that were around the same size and placed them in a circle. "Is this fine?"

"Perfect." Natsu-san packed the wood in a 'pyramid' shape, then finally started the fire.

"Juvia can you get rid of the scales?"

"No problem." Juvia's magic made quick work of the scale. Natsu-san took the fishes and pierced them with skewers before finally stabbing it near the fire.

"If we have a flat rock, we could've done something fancier, but I guess this will do." Juvia squatted by the fire the stare at the fish.

"How long does this take?"

"Dunno"

"Ehh?"

"I don't count how long it takes, I just eat it when it's done. Be sure to flip the fish over to the other side every now and then."

"Juvia knows. Juvia knows how to cook, don't treat her like a child."

"That's great, I can only roast things. Anything else is impossible."

"Juvia can teach you if you want."

"No thanks, I normally eat at the guild."

"Then why do you catch fish?"

"Because I have nothing else to do, all the quests sound boring. Besides, having something fresh to eat isn't too bad."

"What else do you do when you're bored?"

"Fight with the ice princess. Or Erza, depends which one I feel like beating the crap out of."

"But Juvia has never seen Natsu-san beat Erza-san, it's usually the other way around."

"She was lucky."

"Ten times in a row?"

"I w—wasn't feeling it."

"Then why did you challenge her?" Silence, only a pout-y face. "Natsu-san, why don't you admitted that you can't win against Erza-san." Juvia probably shouldn't do this but it's fun talking to Natsu-san like this.

"I can win! One of these days…"

"Want me to help you?"

"Doesn't count then." Natsu-san turned over the fishes

"Sheesh, you dragon slayers are the same, Gajeel-kun is like that too. Is fighting really that fun?"

"Of course! It's better than eating. Wait, maybe not…" Nastu-san sat with his legs cross and a furrowed brow.

"Natsu! I'm back!" Juvia's anger came back looking at the fur-ball is the sky.

"Ohhh! Happy did ya do it?"

"Perfectly!" Happy-san gave a thumbs-up which, Natsu-san returned with a cheeky smile.

"Did you really give a copy to Mira-san and Erza-san?"

"Only to Mira, Erza's scary." Happy-san hid behind the remains of the fish he ate not too long ago.

"That's the one Juvia is worried about the most!" It's hopeless, Juvia is done for. Mira-san is a huge gossiper, that photo will be all over Magnolia in a flash. What will Gray-sama think of it?

"Don't worry Juvia, I told Mira to not go overboard, so it'll only stay inside the guild…probably."

"Probably!?"

"Hey! The fish is done."

"Ehhhhhh! Natsu you cooked it?"

"Yup."

"But it's tastier raw."

"You're not eating it anyway, why do you care? Juvia, here." Natsu-san gave me a fish cooked until brown. How do you eat it? Juvia saw Natsu-san take a bite out of the fish and did the same.

"You're right Natsu-san! Eating it fresh is different!" The fish was more flavourful than the ones Juvia would buy at the market.

"See? It's not bad to eat this once in a while." As Juvia took another bite, Juvia heard another flash. Blood drained from Juvia's face. "D—did you take another—"

"Yup!" Juvia will strangle them, she will kill the—

"Before you do anything, look at this." Natsu-san showed Juvia the photo. Juvia was biting on the fish like a cat; smiling like a child. The picture was a close-up too, so Juvia couldn't see too much bad hair, only the blue locks that were passable. A huge improvement from the last one which will go down as Juvia's biggest disgrace.

"Juvia?"

"Yes?"

"Is this one fine?" Juvia's lips curled upwards.

"Perfect!"

* * *

 **Thank You again for reading, you guys have been giving me some really great comments, really gives me more confidence it my work(also helps with my laziness, writing for an audience gives me a pressure to write something quick and not slack off.)**

 **I apologises for the sloppy beginning at the start of the lake scene. It felt really awkward for me but, I'm not sure if you guys think the same. Also, forgive me if the fishing seems inaccurate, I only went fishing twice in my life and both times was when I was little. So please don't be too harsh on me if I got anything wrong as well as tell me what fishing is really like.**

 **I hope I didn't post an unnecessary chapter that you can pull out and the story will stay the same. If so, let me know and I'll fix it.**

 **Speaking of the story, please feel free to give me some suggestions on what to do for the next interaction, I'm not running out of ideas, I think that some of you can think of some really good ideas.**

 **Again, thank you for the support, I look forward to your feedback!**


	4. Chapter 4: Sweet Revenge?

**Disclaimer: I Don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

Juvia is back to her old habits again: stalking. Not Gray-sama, but Natsu-san. Juvia is trying to figure out Natsu-san's daily schedule. Juvia has the perfect plan to get back at Natsu-san for sending Mira-san that embarrassing photo, she gave Juvia lots of trouble. Juvia will invade Natsu-san's house when he is not there and find dirt on him. It's been four days since Natsu came back from his quest, and a week since Juvia's fishing trip. Juvia used up the time to think of the perfect plan to find Natsu-san's secret.

Juvia was hiding in a bush near Natsu-san's house. Juvia made sure to mask her scent with local berries smothered against her skin, she soaked her clothes in the juices too. Then Juvia sprayed water lightly on her body to dilute the scent. Natsu-san should be coming out soon. Natsu-san starts his day at eight. Juvia made sure she wasn't sticking out.

Natsu-san finally came out! Juvia was off by five minutes, but that's why Juvia is stalking him for a few days to get enough sample data. Happy-san bursts out of the door a few seconds later, carrying a fish wrapped with a ribbon. For Carla Juvia bets.

"Happy! Let's see if there are any good quests for us today."

"Aye sir!" Juiva's hope rose, if they find a quest, Juvia won't need to stalk them.

"Let's go!" Natsu-san ran past the sign that he made—which Juvia finds cute—and towards the guild. What Natsu-san doesn't know is that Juvia is with them. It should take them fifteen minutes to arrive. Juvia will follow them through the river, that'll allow Juvia to arrive faster than Natsu-san and give her time to mask her scent.

The bustling of the street will cancel Natsu-san's great hearing. Juvia is now walking towards a perfume shop five minutes before Juvia's target arrives. Juvia already changed her clothes to something less flashy: a pearl jumper with murky green Capri trousers. Juvia also put on a grey beanie along with a black, silk scarf to hide her hair.

* * *

After walking pass many busy stores ran by charming owners, Juvia reached her destination. Juvia walked into the perfume store and headed to the flora section. Bottles of perfume ranging from blue to red were arranged into an expensive rainbow. Seeing the slow transition from colour to colour still surprises Juvia of how there is so many types. Juvia picked up a bottle of pink liquid labelled: Peach Blossom. Juvia went with that because some girls at Fairy Tail uses the same scent and because there wasn't much time.

As Juvia made her way to the guild, she put on the perfume—just a light coating. When Juvia made it to the guild, Natsu-san wasn't there yet. Juvia gave her greetings to a couple of people and hid behind a pillar that had lots of people around the tables placed near it. Ahh! Natsu-san and Happy-san is here! Juvia will make you regret making an enemy of Juvia Lockser, Natsu-san.

"Good morning!" Natsu-san voice echoed throughout the guild. Followed by a thunder of noises, Juvia smiled at the liveliness of the guild. Natsu-san scanned through the hall, Juvia hid. Natsu-san then started to walk in Juvia-san direction! He spotted Juvia!? How? "Gildarts! Fight with me!" Ohhh…it's just Gildarts-san, Juvia panicked for no reason. Juvia should have more confidence as a stalker. Wait…it that sad?

"Again Natsu? Can't you see I'm talking to Master?"

"Who cares? It's probably just about women anyway." Natsu-san really isn't interested in women huh? His face looks bored and uninterested. What a shame.

"What do you mean 'just'? Women are great! Just look at Mira and tell me what you think of her."

"Just fight me." Natsu-san whined.

"I know! Natsu, win against Erza, and I'll fight you."

"Really?" The light came back into Natsu-san's eyes.

"It's a promise between men."

"Alright! I'm fired up now!" Natsu-san was already talking out loud about how he should fight Gildarts-san, Juvia's got a bad feeling about this.

"Hey flame brain!" Gray-sama's voice and he's half naked! Juvia's heart is racing, not as fast as it used to… "Why don't you just give up on beating Erza, you can't even beat me."

"What? I beat you before."

"You just got lucky!"

"Is that right? Happy! How many times have I won against Gray?"

"Ummm…out of the thousand times you two fought," That many times? "Natsu won fifty times." Natsu-san has a smug grin right, Gray-sama is still composed. "But, Gray also beat Natsu fifty times, the rest were draws or Erza stopped the fight." Natsu-san and Gray-sama butted heads at once.

"Hear that? We should settle the score."

"Just what I wanted! You're going down stripper." Natsu-san sent Gray-sama flying. Resulting in a series of chain reactions. First, Gray-sama crashed into Elfman-san who was talking to Jet-san. Elfman-san got enraged, transformed, knocked many people over. Second, Gray-sama sent Natsu-san into another crowd of people, pissing them off for ruining their meals. Finally, Juvia couldn't see who did it but, someone knocked over Erza-san cake. Which reminded Juvia she has to bake a cake for Erza-san.

This is how Natsu-san starts his day. Around one, Natsu-san will get lunch. Until then, Juvia has to dodge the flying bodies coming Juvia's way.

* * *

Only the strong remained of the brawl, thankfully Gajeel-kun isn't here so we have one less problem. Natsu-san and Gray-sama was standing on top of a pile of unconscious guild members. Erza-san and Mira-san was picking up the more injured ones to the infirmary. Gildarts-san and Master were…still talking about women. Juvia heard every! Single! Word! Dirty old men…

"Today is the day you go down!"

"Not so fast flame brain! You can barely stand right?"

"And I thought you had something to say. It turned out you're trying to back out from the fight."

"Never in your life!" Juvia wanted to warn Gray-sama a-and Natsu-san of Erza-san that was climbing up the mountain of bodies but, that would give Juvia away. Did someone just say 'Step on me more'? Juvia's skin is crawling.

"That's enough! What did I say about fighting?" The rivals paled seeing the red demon in front of them. Natsu-san and Gray-sama placed an arm over each other and started dancing.

"We're not f—fighting right Natsu?"

"A—aye!"

"I see," Erza-san believes that!? "Well, as punishment for causing this, both of you can't eat lunch until everyone has woken up."

"Noooo!" Natsu-san wailed. Stalking Natsu-san has been so much fun!

* * *

Today is the day! Juvia will invade Natsu-san house and find that dirt. Natsu-san just now left his house. Even though Juvia is at Fairy Hills, Juvia has a complete grasp on Natsu-san schedule. Natsu-san will stay at the guild for at least seven hours, nine if a fight happens between Gray-sama. Gray-sama, Juvia is counting on you. Juvia rushed out of the house with one goal in mind: make Natsu-san pay.

Sneaking past Natsu-san was an easy task, Juvia wore nothing but clothes with camouflage patterns on it plus, her scent was masked. Now facing Natsu-san house, Juvia got nervous. This is the first time Juvia visited a boy's house. Gray-sama always locks his windows and bars his doors so Juvia couldn't get in. Gray-sama even blocked his chimney! Juvia was half-way done with her tunnel…wait, this doesn't matter.

Just according to Juvia's plan, Natsu-san door swung open easily. What is this!? So messy! What did Natsu-san do to make this house so messy? Juvia can't see the floor, it was covered with plastic bags, paper scraps, clothes and fish bones. The walls weren't any better, stains were everywhere…was that blood? Juvia's intincts to clean kicked in, it's the least Juvia could do with how much Natsu-san has helped Juvia. P—plus it makes it easier to find dirt on Natsu-san. And Juvia's quest to clean began.

Just before Juvia started, Juvia spotted the only place that looked maintained regularly, a billboard on the side of a wall with a table underneath it. Curiosity took over, Juvia walked over to examine the spot. A bunch of quest requests were stuck on the billboard labelled with messages of the adventures Natsu-san had with his friends. On the table, it was filled with curious trinkets and random things that didn't make sense to Juvia until she read the labels. A warm, bubbly feeling rose from deep inside Juvia, Natsu-san really cherishes his friends… What's that doing here?

On the table, was the two photos of Juvia, framed and labelled 'Fishing with Juvia.'. So that's why Natsu-san took those photos. It's wasn't for a stupid prank, Juvia was wrong about Natsu-san, she should apologize to Natsu-san. With renewed vigor, Juvia started to use her magic and whisk every piece of junk away. A whirlpool carried away the trash, Juvia made sure not to touch any of the things that were a part of Natsu-san's memories. All the objects are gone, now Juvia just has to clean up the stains. Juvia filled a bucket with water and got to work, grabbing a rag that someone used for cleaning. Juvia has no idea who but is grateful for aiding Juvia's job.

Cleaning the walls took the most time, as most of the stains were soaked by the walls. Even after cleaning it, Juvia can still see faint marks of where the eyesores used to be. Natsu-san will have to paint it if he wants them gone. The floor was made of glossy wood, so the mess came off rather easily compared to the floor. By the time Juvia was done, golden rays were shining through the windows. Juvia lost track of time again! Sunset is here, how troublesome, at least Natsu-san won't come here for another couple of hours. Ahh! Juvia is tired, stupid Natsu-san for making Juvia clean up his mess. Juvia found a hammock while cleaning. Natsu-san wouldn't mind Juvia sleeping on it right?

Juvia climbed into the hammock, it was her first time sleeping on one, so it took some time to stop the wobbling. Once Juvia got comfortable however, she noticed a few things. It was a faint smell, the same smell Juvia noticed when Juvia was on Natsu-san's back. A combinations of different tree smoke wafted into Juvia's nose. Subtle, yet inviting. Another thing Juvia picked up was how soothing it felt to sleep on one of these. Juvia just might take a nap here. Just a short one…yeah…

* * *

Night fell over Magnolia when Juvia woke up, she let out a yawn and stretched. Natsu-san isn't back yet? Still an hour left. Then, Juvia will cook for Natsu-san. Juvia started a little hum as she bounced off the hammock and made her way to the kitchen.

When cleaning, Juvia was surprised to find a complete kitchen. Now, she was thankful for it—only the fridge looks used though. Swinging the door open, Juvia was delighted to find lots of ingredients, vegetables, fruits, meat—lots of the vegetables looks like the ones Lisanna-san and Mira-san grew and gave away. Time of get cooking! Juvia will impress Natsu-san with this. Shame that there isn't an apron…Ahh! The maid outfit Lucy-san wore for a quest, thank you love rival!

Should Juvia wear the entire thing or just the apron? Learning from last time's blunder, Juvia decided to save time by just wearing the apron and got to work.

Half-way through the cooking, Juvia remembered why she came in here in the first place: to get back at Natsu! However, looking back at the things Juvia cleaned up, there was nothing Juvia could use! Everything was too wholesome! And the ones that can be used are nothing but trash and junk that has no particular meaning to it. It was when Juvia was cooking a steak when Juvia figured out a compromise: to be a bit cheeky with the cooking! So Juvia reached for a huge pile of mint…

"I'm back!" Natsu-san voice! Juvia left the kitchen along with the finished food and made her way to Natsu-san.

"Natsu, why do say that anyway? No one else lives here."

"It's a habit. Back when me and Lisanna played house, I would greet her with 'I'm back!' and she would say—"

"Welcome back!" Juvia shouted, bowing a little. Juvia always wanted to say that! Juvia expected to say it to Gray-sama and not Natsu-san but...this doesn't feel too bad either.

"J—Juvia!?"

"Why are you here?" Happy-san asked.

"Juvia was planning to find some dark secret on Natsu-san to get back for the picture but ended up cleaning up and cooking diner as well." Juvia lied, hoping he won't notice.

"Juvia, could it be you're an…idiot?" Happy-san covered his mouth while stifling a laugh. Juvia blasted Happy-san out of the house with a torrent of water. At least Juvia's cover wasn't blown.

"Juvia was a fool for thinking you would be thankful."

"Sorry." The soaking cat said. Juvia smiled seeing the cat regret his actions.

"As long you're really sorry, Juvia will let you eat."

"But Juvia you really didn't need to do all of this for us." Natsu-san interrupted. "Just cleaning the house must've been a hassle, Lucy gave me an earful."

"So Lucy-san cleaned the house before Juvia…"

"Yeah why?"

"N—nothing! Anyway, let eat." Juvia dragged Natsu-san to the plates of meat, vegetables and other things Juvia cooked. Did Juvia go overboard?

"You cooked all this by yourself?" Natsu-san's mouth is watering, huge success.

"Thank you Juvia-sama! Natsu-san torched my fish on the way back."

"Let's eat before the food gets cold, don't waste Juvia's efforts."

""Aye sir!""

"""Thanks for the food!""" Juvia didn't eat yet, she was anxious to hear Natsu-san and Happy-san opinions.

"Delicious!" "So good!"

"Juvia's glad you liked it." Now relieved, Juvia started to eat, being very careful not to land in the landmine Juvia made for Natsu.

"But still, I'm surprised you made this from the stuff in the fridge."

"Natsu-san what do you normally do with the food?"

"Eat them raw. The meat, I roast them, that's it."

"That's so plain!"

"That's why I eat at the guild." Natsu said, just missing a meatball mint bomb.

"Then how do you still have room?"

"I fought the ice princess before coming back."

"Who won?"

"I did of—"

"Erza stopped the fight." Happy-san interrupted.

"Hey! I was winning."

"Juvia, you should've seen it, Natsu looked so scared when Erza arrived."

"I was not!"

"You were!"

"Was not!"

"Liar!" Juvia has come to enjoy their antics, it's so absurd.

"Juvia, what's wrong?"

"Hmm?"

"You got a weird smile on." Juvia didn't realise it until Happy-san pointed it out. Juvia was resting her head on her hand and smiled at the two. How embarrassing!

"W—well…that's right! You two can have some of Juvia's food, Juvia is already full." Juvia laughed dryly, hoping they'll buy it and move on.

"Juvia is the best!"

"Aye!"

Juvia hasn't had this much fun in a while…what should Juvia do…about Gray-sama? Just then, Natsu put a bomb in his mouth. He instantly recoiled at the intensity of the herb, throwing himself back on the chair, sending it along with himself to the ground. Natsu proceed to roll around the floor in agony. Seeing the pain Natsu was in, Juvia felt really bad, so she rushed to cradle his head in Juvia's arms and tried to comfort him in what way Juvia could.

"Sorry, Juvia was trying to get back at you for the picture you took. Please forgive Juvia"

"Man that was strong!" Natsu held his hand over his mouth, not wanting to breathe through his mouth or drink water.

"Sorry…Juvia didn't think that…sorry…Juvia will leave." Natsu grabbed Juvia's wrists, holding Juvia in place.

"It's fine…I had worse."

"But still! Juvia did something so horrible."

"Don't worry too much about it. Besides, if you leave, how am I supposed to tell what else is dangerous? Stay."

"If you're fine with it…" Nothing else happened after that, Juvia removed all the bombs and even eating one herself as an apology—the worst decision of Juvia's life. No matter how many times Juvia said sorry, Natsu brushed it aside and said that Juvia was forgiven. Though Juvia knows that, Natsu won't be a big fan of the smell of concentrated mint from now on. Or regular mint for that matter

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! This one was super fun to write. I have a chance to focus on description but couldn't do too much since it's a first-person story. Unless the character is a poet, I really wouldn't use too much romantic words and phrases, only simple words.**

 **One thing I hope you guys would notice and help me with is whether the slow transition of Juvia's feeling is subtle enough. I didn't write Juvia blushing much since Juvia wouldn't really notice if she blushes or not unless it's really serious. If you want, put in your own imagination and put in blushes according to what you think is appropriate.**

 **Finally, I hope I maintained Juvia's quirky character, if I ever stray a bit, please tell me.**

 **Again, thank you for reading, I look forward to your feedback!**


	5. Chapter 5: Ladies Night Out

**Discliamer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

This should do. Juvia put on her oven mitts and pulled out a tiny cake. Now for the approval. Juvia finally got around to baking a cake for Erza-san, before Juvia delivers it the cake to Erza-san, Juvia must past the elimination round: Mira-san. Since Mira-san always deliver the food to people, she has a perfect control on people's tastes. So, before making a bigger cake, Juvia must past Mira-san. Juvia put one the finishing touches; packed the cake into a small white box; left Fairy Hills for the guild.

* * *

Juvia arrived before too many people is here, leaving Mira-san free for the most part. We were sitting opposite of each other, Mira-san was looking at Juvia's cake with an expert eye.

"Well, it looks well made." Round one clear! "Time for the most important part." Mira-san cut off a small piece from the cake with a fork and delivered it to her mouth.

"How is it?"

"Mhmm!" Mira-san placed one hand on her cheek as she chewed. "You pass." That radiant smile gave Juvia lots of confidence. "Just use a fresher strawberry next time and you'll be fine!"

"Yes!"

"Since you're here, do you have anything you want to talk about?"

"Well…Juvia does have something she's not sure of."

"Do you want to share?"

"It's about Gray-sama…"

"It has been two weeks. So, how are you doing?"

"Juvia isn't sure…Juvia hasn't been feeling the same."

"Do you think that's bad?"

"N—no. Ever since that day, Juvia has had more fun than ever, cooking with you was exciting, quests with Lisanna-san and Levy-san was refreshing. A—also, hanging out with Natsu-san was nice…"

"That's fine right? You made lots of memories and got closer to many people, I think that's lovely."

"Juvia isn't saying that it isn't, just... Juvia feels like she lost the magic feeling with Gray-sama."

"Do you feel sad about that?"

"The opposite…Juvia feels free. But, Juvia spent so much time chasing after Gray-sama that she feels reluctant to let it go."

"Here's my advice: I think you should do that." Mira-san was looking at Juvia with a serious expression. "It's important in life to learn how to get over things."

"Juvia's still not—"

"How about this, come find me after you give Erza that cake."

"Y—yes!"

"Well, I need to get back to work, it was nice talking to you, thank you for the cake." Mira-san rose from her seat and walked back behind the bar. Juvia's counselling session is over, Erza-san's cake awaits.

* * *

Juvia's room is still as boring as ever. Now that her decorations are gone, Juvia's room looks plain, she considered buying new ones, or make some herself. However, nothing caught Juvia's eye. In fact, Juvia lost the creative drive with the confusion she has lately. Juvia feels annoyed every time she walks into her room. The kitchen, Juvia has no problems with, Juvia spent days on thinking of the perfect layout.

Juvia took out the ingredients needed for the cake and weighed them to perfection. Juvia hummed as she mixed the ingredients together, dancing side to side. Soon, the cake is ready for baking. Juvia placed the cake into the oven, set the time and went back into her bedroom. Juvia hopes Erza-san will like it.

The cake is finished! Juvia marveled at her creation, a cake coated with pink cream stood proudly, a crown of fresh strawberries rested on top. Along with a chocolate rose nestled in the middle, the cake looked great in Juvia's opinion. Juvia boxed the cake in a pink box and walked out the door.

Juvia found Erza-san in the streets of Magnolia, outside a cake shop, looking depressed. It was like her soul left her, Erza-san's eyes were dull, her walking was unstable, stumbling to the side as she walked out of the cake shop. This is Juvia's chance to give Erza-san her cake.

"Erza-saaan!" Erza-san back straighten seeing Juvia walk towards her.

"Juvia huh, What's wrong?"

"That's Juvia's line! Why do you look so sad?" Erza-san sighed and pointed to a bench by a statue.

"Let's talk over there." After sitting down, Erza-san sighed again.

"What's wrong?"

"They ran out of strawberry cakes…" That's what's killing her? Juvia couldn't help but giggle. "How rude." Erza-san huffed.

"Sorry, sorry. Juvia is just laughing at the situation."

"What's so amusing?"

"Juvia is laughing at the star aligning."

"What do you mean?"

"Juvia is here to give you the cake she promised."

"R—really!?" The light is back in Erza-san's eyes, filled with hope. A bit too much. Now Juvia is nervous the cake might not meet her expectations.

"Y—yes do you want it no—"

"Yes!" Erza-san blushed at her hastiness and coughed. "Errm...sorry."

"It's fine." Juvia presented the box that was sitting on Juvia's lap. "Let's go back to the guild and eat it!" Without responding, Erza-san grabbed Juvia's arm and flew across the streets. "Erza-san! Slow down please!" Juvia's feet were hurting from how quick they were hammering down on the ground.

"My apologies…" We were walking at a more comfortable pace. Just in time too, Juvia could see the guild not too far from where we are. The atmosphere was awkward though…

"Erza-san is amazing, you can run really fast."

"Yeah…" Dead air again! Juvia really messed up this time! Why can't Juvia be like Mira-san? She would be able to maintain the conversation. "Juvia, forgive me. I didn't consider your safety, I was blinded by food. I—if it makes you feel better, please hit me!" Ehh?

"N—n—n—no need! Juvia isn't angry! Erza-san is just excited. Juvia understands that very much."

"Thank you."

"W—well, let's go inside."

"Yeah."

* * *

The guild was at its rowdiest, people were singing, dancing, laughing and of course, fighting. Natsu-san was away for a job though, so there shouldn't be too much damage. We found an empty bench to sit down on. Juvia placed the cake on the table and slid it to Erza-san.

"Can I really have it all?"

"Of course! Juvia baked it for you after."

"But…"

"Juvia is on a diet."

"If you insist." We called for a plate and fork.

"My, Juvia that's a lovely cake." Mira-san commented, handing the items to Erza-san

"Thank you…but the taste might be..."

"Don't worry, if the cake earlier is the same as this one, or even better, Erza-san would enjoy it."

"That's right, anything made by my friend I won't slander." Erza-san reassured.

"Well then, Juvia hopes you enjoy it." Juvia held her breath as she watched Erza-san picked up the fork and copied Mira-san's previous movements. "W—well?"

"It's good! You can breathe now." Erza-san chuckled. Juvia's face feels hot, was it really that obvious?

"Isn't that great Juvia?"

"Yes!" Juvia took in a deep breath. "By the way Mira-san, you said to find you later, is now a good time?"

"Perfect! Master told me I can take the rest of the day off."

"So, what is it?"

"Juvia, do you want to go out and have fun with us tonight?" How bold! Mira-san has a great figure, she can attract anyone. Mira-san must've noticed Juvia's face because she said "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"T—then, what is it?"

"Me, Levy-chan, Cana-san and Lisanna are going out shopping, do you want to come with us? It'll keep your mind off things."

"In that case, please take care of Juvia." Juvia bowed slightly out of habit.

"You don't have to be so reserved, we're friends remember? How about you Erza? Do you want to come?"

"No thanks, I don't want to bother you."

"No way! You'll fit right in!"

"If you insist, I'll come." Mira-san clapped her hand lightly.

"Then, let's all meet up at the guild at eight, see you then." With that, Mira-san walked off back to the bar and disappeared behind a door.

"Juvia, I'll see you soon."

"Likewise."

* * *

What should Juvia wear at the meet? Juvia was posing at mirror holding dark brown coat with her right hand and a pair of black leggings with her left. Looking at Juvia's bed, Juvia worried at her indecisiveness, a good portion of Juvia's bed was covered by clothes and hats. There is still an hour left. But Juvia has to fix her hair as well…

In the end, Juvia wore the clothes she was holding at the time. Completing the finishing touches: tying laces to Juvia's boots that reached to her knees, Juvia pulled a beanie over her head and wrapped a wool scarf before heading outside. The chilly winds of autumn has finally come. Trees were getting their yellow spots, hibernators began their last few forages as the days got colder and longer. Clouds blocked off any light from above, so Juvia has to rely on street lights. Juvia wonders how Natsu-san is doing? Is he on his way back? Juvia pondered in silence.

A complete opposite scene showed itself upon reaching the streets of Magnolia. An overwhelming amount of people—mainly girls—crowded the streets—smiling brightly. This isn't what it's usually like, what happened? Street performers drew crowds like ants with honey. The pleasant smell of food was everywhere, even Juvia grew hungry even though she ate before leaving.

Juvia found her companions talking with each other at the guild entrance. They spotted Juvia and waved.

"Over here!" Levy-san beckoned.

"Why were there so many people at the streets?"

"That's right! Juvia doesn't know about of 'The Day of Trade'." Mira-san pointed out.

"What's that?"

"You see," Levy-san began. "around when Magnolia was still a village, it wasn't very well developed. So it wasn't a good place for traders to come by. But one day, a man called Lon Saxton came along and—"

"L—long story short, a holiday was created to remember Lon's deeds." Lisanna-san cut in with an apologetic smile. "As the name suggests, the holiday is about trading, you can find some great deals during this time!"

"Juvia understands. But why were there so many girls compared to guys?"

"The guys don't want to carry so many stuff for the girls, that's why they find excuses to leave beforehand. The guys you saw were most likely in a relationship and were forced to come." Lisanna-san explained.

"Is that why Juvia saw so many males go on a quest? Juvia has never seen the notice board so empty."

"Yup!"

"Natsu-san too?"

"W—well, Mira-nee forced Natsu to carry our stuff when we were children and was traumatized ever since."

"Lisannaaa!" Mira-san started to pout. "Don't bring up such embarrassing things!"

"Anyway! Let's go!" Lisanna-san rallied, her eyes are fierce, like a lion hunting its prey

"Yes!" "Yeah!" "Okay!" "Naturally!" "With pleasure!"

Despite the name, 'The Day of Trade' was fantastic! It was somehow even more lively than the guild when Natsu-san was around. Like Lisanna-san said, Juvia found so many great deals on clothing, gifts, accessories, et cetera. What Juvia was most impressed by, was how aggressive everyone is, especially Erza-san and Mira-san, the two managed to lower an already cheap price on their purchases. We were heading for a snack bar, arms filled to the brim with our trophies.

"Hey look over there!" Levy-san pointed to someone that was shirtless and hauling a huge amount of boxes and bags, Gray-sama. Juvia wouldn't mistaken him for anyone else, even if Juvia can only see his lower half.

"Gray-sama…"

"Ahh! Juvia I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's alright Levy-san. Everyone, Juvia is going to set things straight, wait for Juvia." After all this time Juvia has finally come to a realization; the importance of companions, everyone: thank you, Juvia can now move forward. We placed down our items in a pile and Juvia made went to Gray-sama.

"Gray-sama."

"J—Juvia!?" Juvia's entrance made Gray-sama drop all of his load on the ground.

"Sorry…Juvia made you..."

"I was getting tired anyway. So, what's up?"

"Where is Lucy-san?"

"In that lingerie store behind me."

"Juvia has something to say to Gray-sama."

"Same here."

"Then Gray-sama go ahead."

"Okay." Gray-sama took in a deep breath. Juvia blinked and Gray-sama was suddenly bowing at a ninety-degree angle. "Sorry for hurting you! And for being a coward and not talking to you ever since!"

"Ehh?" Gray-sama is apologizing?

"I felt really bad after knocking away your cake, it haunted me for days, weeks even! I hope you can forgive me."

"Gray-sama…lift your head." Juvia looked right into Gray-sama's eyes. "Juvia can never truly hate you, it was you that pulled Juvia out of that depressing time, and Juvia will forever be grateful. So there's no need to ask for forgiveness."

"But…"

"Gray-sama…Juvia came to give her blessings."

"What…did…you…say?"

"Juvia supports you and Lucy-san."

"Why?" Disbelief was still on Gray-sama's face.

"When you rejected Juvia, it was hard to accept it—it was painful!" Guilt spread across Gray-sama's face. "But, Juvia got through it!" Juvia gestured to her friends standing behind her, giving Juvia supportive looks. "Cana-san recommend that Juvia should to numb the pain by drinking; Mira-san gave me advice; Natsu-san, Levy-san, Erza-san and Lisanna-san kept Juvia's mind off things. They all cheered Juvia up!"

"…"

"Juvia got over it! Now she's here to set things right."

"Set things right?"

"Yes. During that painful period, Juvia found out how crucial friends and families are, they supported Juvia. But Juvia also realized that Juvia didn't try to become friends with Gray-sama, only pushed and pestered him. So Gray-sama, let's reset." Gray-sama's eye became serious and nodded.

"Okay!"

"But we do before we do, can you tell Juvia the truth? Was Juvia not your type of woman?"

"Of course not!" That shocked Juvia. "Your personality was a bit weird, not in a bad way, it's just…something I'd never seen. And your looks, there's no need the say it, your stunningly beautiful. It's just, I love Lucy..."

"Juvia understands…weird isn't it Gray-sama? In the past, those words would've made Juvia faint or have steam coming off Juvia's head but now—"

"You don't anymore right?" Gray-sama smirked with…pride?

"Yes!"

"Sheesh! Now I own flame brain one." Gray-sama said, Scratching his cheeks lightly

"Well then, Juvia has kept the others waiting, talk to you later, Gray-san!" Gray-san looked more surprised than ever, but that quickly turned to relief.

"Yeah!" Juvia turned away with success swimming everywhere, Juvia has done it! Juvia can move on!

"How did it go?" Cana-san asked, mouth still touching a whiskey bottle.

"Perfectly!"

"Let's celebrate at the snack bar then! Juvia doesn't have to pay, we'll cover for it."

"Is that okay?"

"No problem, consider it a gift from us for moving on." Erza-san added. Juvia's face is getting wet, without these people, surely, Juvia would return to that lonely time. Thank you.

"Juvia, you're crying! What's wrong?" Levy-san panicked and pull out a handkerchief.

"Nothing, Juvia is glad that she has such good friends."

"Let's not stand around and go eat!" Lisanna-san said.

"Yes!"

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed it. Was the meeting between Juvia and Gray too rushed? Or was Juvia's realisation too sudden because I didn't give enough hints?**

 **Anyway, sorry for the sloppy start, I think I made up it later on. I didn't describe the clothes of the other people because that would kill all momentum of the story. I could do it character by character as Juvia interacted with everyone of them and do it subtly, but that would make the chapter too long and I didn't have that many ideas for each interaction.**

 **I noticed something strange when i posted chapter four, it got updated but the site didn't update the 'update time' is this a regular thing? I know I posted chapter 3 and 4 really quickly, was that the reason why? Please tell me if this has happened before and how to prevent it.**

 **Again, thanks for the support, I look forward to the feedback!**


	6. Chapter 6: Journey With a Dragon

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

What should Juvia do? Because of the shopping Juvia did a week ago, she can't pay the Fairy Hills rent. Standing at the quest board, Juvia couldn't find any jobs interesting, should Juvia just pick a bunch of easy quests? But that's so boring…

"Juvia!" A blur of pink and tan entered Juvia's vision, which soon solidified into a pair of sharp eyes, pink hair and a cheery face.

"Natsu-san! What's wrong?"

"Wanna do a quest with me?" Natsu-san showed a quest to Juvia. Juvia took the paper out of Natsu-san's hand and read it out loud.

"Let's see, looking for a magical gemstone in Greybrook, contact client for more information. The reward is…a million Jewels! That's so much for a magical gemstone! Isn't this an S-class job?"

"No. Do you want to go then?"

"Why not go with your team then Natsu-san." The dragon slayer in question turned huffy and folded his arms.

"Erza and Happy went with Wendy to find some herb, and ice princess is with Lucy."

"Are you angry?"

"Not really." Yep, he's angry, it's kind of cute.

"Juvia understands, Juvia will go with you."

"Really? Thank you!" Natsu-san, tactless as he is, pulled Juvia into a hug! I—it's warm…

"Natsu-san…you're…umm…close…"

"What's wrong?"

"N—nothing." Natsu-san finally backed away and gave Juvia a charming grin. Juvia is steaming! Natsu-san, how do you have no problem with hugging people out of the blue?

"See ya at nine Juvia! I need to pack up."

"Yes…" Juvia didn't move until she couldn't see Natsu-san's silhouette, still trying to process what just happened. Somehow, Juvia made it back home without bumping into anything.

Juvia believes she prepared enough, in her backpack, Juvia has a set of clothes, spare food, a sleeping bag, water bottle and other outdoor essentials. Juvia is wearing a black jacket along with her usual outfit. What Juvia didn't prepare for, is that she is travelling with a dragon slayer, despite travelling with Gajeel-kun before.

* * *

"I'm going to die…" Natsu-san was leaning against a window of the train and threw up whatever he had for breakfast.

"It's just like Gajeel-kun."

"Of course! Urck! We're both…uhh…dragon…slayers…uhhh…"

"Is there anyway Juvia can help?"

"C—can you do what Erza will do?"

"And that is?"

"Knock…me…out" More stuff came flying out of Natsu-san's mouth.

"Are you sure? What if you fall to the floor?"

"That's why…Erza lays me down…on her lap…"

"Ehh?"

"P—please." Juvia got up and sat next to Natsu-san.

"Sorry!" Juvia delivered a chop onto Natsu-san's neck, taking him out and laying his head on Juvia's lap. For such a violent way to ease the suffering, Natsu-san's face has content and peace written all over it. Juvia wiped away the gastro-residue from Natsu-san's lips with tissue, giving Juvia full access to his facial features.

This is the first time Juvia has ever seen this peaceful side to Natsu-san. Juvia traced his steep jawline; stopping at the chin; rubbing it slightly; then moved onto his cheek. Juvia poked it a few times and found out it was surprisingly soft, so that's how he can fit so much food in his mouth. Why is Juvia doing this? Juvia started to stroke Natsu-san's spikey hair, earning her several coos from the dragon slayer's mouth. How cute!

Seeing how there is still two hours left to the train ride, Juvia figured that she should do some studying on Greybrook. So Juvia pulled out a guide of Fiore and flipped to the right page. Found it!

 _Greybrook is a special forest spanning over 150 square kilometres and surrounded by mountain ranges, making it isolated from the rest of the world. This resulted in unique species of wildlife that can only be found in Greybrook to appear. Also due to the mountains, Greybrook receives less sunlight than in other places, the only time when the entire forest is lit by the sun is when the sun reaches the zenith._ Other abnormal weather and climate should be expected.

 _Travellers should expect tall trees and pay attention to the sun's position when visiting this area of Fiore. The recommend route is to cut through (4985 m), the shortest mountain out of the mountain range._

So that's why the pay is so high, we are going to a dangerous place. At least we have to meet up with the client before we head there, we should thoroughly prepare. Juvia thinks that these clothes won't be good enough. Maybe adding another person might be a good idea.

Juvia packed away her guide and stared back at Natsu-san. Seeing his sleeping face somehow eases Juvia's worries. Juvia feels safe with Natsu-san.

* * *

We are going to arrive in about a minute or so, Juvia doesn't want to disturb Natsu-san from sleeping but she must. Juvia whispered into Natsu-san's ears while shaking his shoulders.

"Natsu-san, Natsu-san, wake up we're almost there." He stirred slightly. Juvia tried again, this time, more forcefully. "Natsu-san. Wake up, we're here." Juvia changed to patting his shouldered.

"Lucy, not now…" Juvia turned to using her final method: splashing cold water on Natsu-san's head.

"Whoa! What was that for Juvia?"

"For being Natsu-san." Why did Juvia do that? What is happening to Juvia? This feels familiar.

"You're not making sense."

"Come on! We already arrived." Juvia got and took a few steps, numb…

"Yeah, yeah." Juvia stumbled forward into a chair. "Are you okay?"

"Fine. Juvia's legs are just numb from sitting too long. Also, from having Natsu-san—"

"Get on." Natsu-san knelt facing away from Juvia.

"B—but—"

"Hurry up." Juvia climbed into Natsu-san's back.

"Are we really going out like this?"

"Yup." Natsu-san already got out of the train door. Well…this isn't too bad; his back is comfy. We stayed like this in silence until we got out of the train station. The town which out client lives in is quite a charming place. It's smaller than Magnolia but, Juvia can get a good feel over the friendly atmosphere of the place; everywhere Juvia looks, she can see people smiling and laughing. Stone houses were built in organized rows. Some tree was planted here and there, giving the town a nice vibe.

"Juvia, are you fine now?"

"N—no! Just…a bit more, Juvia's leg are still numb…"

"No problem. By the way, do you know where the client is?"

"Master said it's the huge mansion at the top of a hill."

"Let's find it after we eat something, I'm starving."

"You're such a glutton."

"I can't help it, I threw up a bunch." Natsu-san whined like a child.

"Fine, fine, we'll go to a restaurant. But, Juvia isn't paying, Juvia isn't hungry yet."

"Thank you!" We found a place to eat that was pretty cheap. Juvia had a cup of tea and Natsu-san ordered well…everything, more than once.

"Natsu-san, you should eat slowly, no one is going to take the food away from you."

"But I'm hungry." A pile of plates responded, err…Natsu-san responded. That's right, Juvia can't even see her companion because of how much he's eating.

"Are you sure you can pay for that?"

"Yup!" Hearing Natsu-san gulp down something vigorously, Juvia's worries didn't stop. And the mountain of plates didn't help either. "Thank you for the meal!"

"Over here! We would like to pay." A waitress that came over had the same worried look as Juvia has. What if Natsu-san didn't bring money?

"That'll amount to fourteen thousand, six hundred and thirty-nine Jewels please." That's almost a sixth of Juvia's monthly rent! Please have enough money Natsu-san, Juvia is low on money, she needs to buy other things too.

"Here's fifteen thousand." Natsu-san said calmly. "You can keep the change, we're in a hurry."

"T—thank you…please come again…"

"Sure! Juvia, let's go." Natsu-san grabbed Juvia by the wrist and pulled her out of the restaurant hastily. "Big mansion, big mansion…ahh! Over there." Natsu-san pointed to a massive white building in the distance sitting on top of a hill. Natsu-san released Juvia's hand and broke into a run. "Whoever gets there last will owe the other a favour!"

"Wha—That's cheating!" Juvia chased after the cheater. "Natsu-san, wait up! That's not fair!"

"No waaaay!"

* * *

"Juvia…you're…pretty fast." Natsu-san said in between breaths, Juvia was heaving too. "But…you still...lost!"

"Cheater…" What will Natsu-san make Juvia do?

"You hit me with magic didn't you?"

"That's because Natsu-san got a head start."

"Then we're even, so it cancels out."

"That's not how it works!" We were bickering at the front door of the mansion, Juvia didn't get a good look at the building itself because Natsu-san decided to have a race but, Juvia can tell this place oozes of money, the door is plenty of evidence. It was made up of dark red wood with a golden door knob. Carvings of deer were abundant around the center. The frame of the tree was made to look like trees that—

"I guess we should enter."

"Yes!"

"I'll cash in on the favour later but first," Natsu-san gave the door two sharp knocks. "we should meet this guy."

"Who might you be?"

"We're fairy Tail wizards in charge of the job."

"I understand, please wait." Diminishing footsteps came from within the door, presumably a servant, a maid judging from the voice.

"Hey Juvia."

"What is it Natsu-san?"

"Why did you come on this job with me?"

"Juvia has to pay her rent but can't find any interesting jobs."

"Good thing I found you right? Otherwise you would've been stuck cleaning someone's garden or something."

"Perhaps. Where did you find that request anyway?"

"I asked gramps for harder quests."

"You can do that?"

"Yup! But only if he thinks you can do it."

"Thank you for waiting, the young master is waiting for you." The doors opened, revealing a stunning brunette wearing a maid uniform. She has gorgeous hazel eyes that is more like topaz gemstones. Her hair was fastened into a bun, giving her a great sense of dignity. "Please show me your guild marks." Natsu-san turned to show the guild mark on his right shoulder and Juvia rolled up her dress on the left side, showing her guild mark. "Please, follow me." The maid led us up a flight of stairs that was covered with red carpet; along a corridor decorated with paintings, pottery and flowers; to a plain brown door. "Young master, I brought the Fairy Tail wizards."

"Come in." The maid opened the doors for us. Natsu-san took the first step, followed by Juvia, then the maid. "Sorry for making you come all this way just to meet me." Sitting at a desk, was a person around twenty with short blond with striking green eyes. If Juvia didn't come from Fairy Tail, this person would have been handsome, but he's average in Juvia's eyes. Juvia really is spoilt for choice.

"No, we're wizards, we're used to travel."

"I see…I guess that's true, wizards really are amazing—" The maid coughed loudly. "Ahh sorry! Please have a seat!" The man gestured to two expensive looking velvet chairs knitted with a rose pattern. "Caroline, thank you for bringing them here, you may take a rest." The man said with a smile, resulting in a blush coming from the maid. She bowed and left the room quietly.

"So, you're the client?" Natsu-san said, sitting down and so did Juvia.

"Yes, I'm Melvin Hart, son of Keith Hart, a Baron. And you two are?"

"Natsu Dragneel."

"Juvia Lockser."

"Natsu-san and Juvia-san is it? Shall we get into business?"

"Yes!" "Of course!"

"Well I'm sure you know that I'm looking for a magical gemstone from Greybrook. The truth is I'm not sure if there is one…"

"What?" Natsu-san looked confused

"I want you two to go in that forest and locate the stone, if it does exist, please bring it back to me. If it doesn't I'll pay you either way."

"If you don't mind Juvia asking, what do you need the stone for."

"T—to propose to Caroline."

"Ehh? But she's your servant!?"

"Actually, she's a daughter of another noble, but she lost a bet against me, so she has to be my maid for the week. We're really in a relationship."

"What kind of play is this!?" Melvin was blushing up a storm, meanwhile Natsu-san was nodding profoundly. I—is that going t—to be Natsu-san's favour!? That's more like a punishment!

"A—anyway, I was planning on proposing for a while now but, I want the make the ring special, we're both rich so, anything expensive will be meaningless. That's when my father told me of a rumor."

"A rumor?"

"Yes, a rumor that a tree that bears gemstones as fruit grows in Greybrook. I tried to go there myself however…"

"You couldn't get past the mountain?"

"That's exactly right, it was too cold for me."

"Maybe that's why gramps gave me the request." Natsu-san cut in.

"Most likely, I told your Master of the struggles I had. I even suggested a fire mage should go."

"But still, if you're paying for us to do it. Then, isn't it the same?" Natsu-san asked.

"Y—you're right…however, after failing three times, I no longer can get the rumor out of my mind."

"Alright, we'll do it."

"Thank you very much!"

"I do have another question."

"Please go ahead."

"How are you going to tell if we are telling the truth?"

"Are you—"

"Don't misunderstand. I will never slander Fairy Tail's name. However, I ain't working for someone that hasn't worked things out." Natsu-san looks…scary and kind of cool.

"Of course…my apologies. I hired an experienced interrogator that can spot out any lie. Also, I hired Fairy Tail specifically because of the reputation."

"Okay! Consider it done!" Natsu-san gave Melvin-san his signature grin.

"Thank you!"

"Juvia, you have no problems right?"

"None."

"Then let's go!" Natsu-san got up from his seat and left.

"Juvia is sorry for his actions, he's a bit impatient."

"No it's fine, I should be apologizing for making you two go somewhere that might be meaningless."

"No problem, Natsu-san like adventuring anyway. Well then, Juvia has to go, we'll come back with the gemstone Melvin-san!" Juvia ran out to meet with Natsu-san.

* * *

"Natsu-san wait up!" Juvia grabbed onto Natsu-san's shoulder. "We need to prepare for the trip."

"Why?"

"The mountain range is really cold."

"I'm a fire mage."

"Juvia isn't! Also, the climb is going to be long, we need to pack enough food."

"Fine, I got it."

"First, we need to go to the clothing store." Natsu-san grumbled something about girls and clothing as he followed Juvia to the clothing store.

"Hey Natsu-san, which one do you think is better?" Juvia showed two winter coats to Natsu-san, one black, the other dark blue.

"Does it really matter? You'll probably pick the thing I didn't pick."

"Where did you get that?"

"Every time I shopped with Lucy." Lucy-san again huh…

"Juvia promises she won't do that so please pick one."

"Then, the black one."

"You think so too!? Then I'll get this one. And a pair of warm trousers. Natsu-san, can you pick a hat and scarf for Juvia? Juvia needs to find some trousers."

"Okaaaay." Juvia browsed through different types of wool trousers, ultimately deciding on a brown one.

"Juvia, here." Natsu-san handed Juvia a grey wool hat and a black, blue checked scarf.

"Thank you."

"I'll wait for you outside okay?"

"Yes!"

Alone in the mountains with Natsu-san, this might not be too bad…

* * *

 **Thank You for reading! I'm finally getting around to a story arc, I put it off for a while now because I suck at fight scenes, please give me suggestions on how to improve when that time comes. I might not upload as much due to me rewriting the scene(I suck at fight scenes) if I'm not happy with it.**

 **On the side note, how am I handling on Juvia's slow interest change? Is it too fast or just right? Also, none of you guys told me if their is too much description or not, I think I do too much talking and my descriptions aren't vivid enough. But that's not for me to decide.**

 **I managed not to use our measurement system for a while now and I hope it doesn't bother you as much as it does with me. My work-arounds doesn't really work in a guidebook.**

 **Thank you for your support, I hope you enjoyed. I look forward for your feedback.**


	7. Chapter 7: Mountain Menace

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

"Are we there, uhhh… there yet?" Natsu-san said, was holding a sick bag that was half-full. We departed from town via a carriage to . Juvia was rubbing Natsu-san's back.

"Juvia's sorry but, she has to explain what kind of place Greybrook is."

"Don't, I like surprises…Urck!"

"Then, come here." Juvia laid Natsu-san onto Juvia's lap again. "Don't vomit on Juvia."

"I feel better already, thanks! But, aren't you gonna knock me out?" Natsu-san still has a sour expression on, like he's holding it in because he's on Juvia's lap.

"How about this?" Juvia stroked onto Natsu-san's head while singing a lullaby that Juvia's mother taught her when Juvia was younger.

"You're good at singing…Juvia…" He's dozing off already? He really is like a child!

Juvia didn't reply and continued singing until, Natsu-san was asleep, Juvia's hands didn't stop however.

"Thank You Natsu-san, you were Juvia's first audience you know?" Juvia whispered, not wanting to erase her hard work. "Juvia wouldn't mind singing for you again, ask Juvia anytime."

The carriage continued its journey to while Juvia admired the scenery. We were on a forest path. The trees leaves here has the same situation back in Magnolia, yellow and turning brown, some has already fallen off, creating a crunching sound when the carriage pasted by a piles of leaves. Juvia can make out the squirrels climbing around; the scurrying of mice; flapping of birds that are heading for a warmer place. In the distance, Juvia can see a wall of snow that is getting bigger; the mountain range. Finally seeing the mountain range for herself, Juvia decided to read up on it:

 _The Billows Mountain Range is a peculiar series of mountains that form a ring, trapping a forest: Greybrook inside. Known for its strong winds and cold climate, not much wildlife lives here. The ones that do are highly dangerous and merciless in this food sparse environment. These animals include Vulcans, Mountain Sabres, and other carnivorous animals. The most dominant being the Mountain Sabres._

 _Researchers conducted some surveys in the mountains, revealing hints of magic in the dirt, suggesting that this isn't a natural mountain, but one that is made by a wizard long ago. The purpose of creating the mountains is still unknown, however neighbouring villages and towns has folklore and legends that back the research results._

 _Travellers should prepare enough food and pack warm clothes, a coat that blocks winds are vital._

Good thing Juvia told Natsu-san to buy supplies, or we might've been in trouble. But knowing Natsu-san, he would eat the wildlife there if he gets hungry. Ahh! We're almost there.

"Natsu-san, wake up." Juvia skipped shaking Natsu-san's shoulders and went straight to patting.

"Mhmm…" Natsu-san seemed to have went into a deeper sleep.

"Natsu-san, there's some food over there."

"Food!?" Natsu-san shot up and darted his eyes back and forth. "Where's the food?"

"Natsu-san, there is no food, we're almost there."

"Liar…" Natsu-san wrenched again.

"Come on! Stay down." Juvia pushed Natsu-san onto Juvia's lap. "You feel better like this right?"

"Yeah. Thanks!"

"You're welcome."

"There really is no food?"

"Natsu-san!"

"I can't help it, I'm hungry."

"When aren't you hungry?"

"After I eat."

"Forget that Juvia asked." Juvia feels a headache coming on. Why did Juvia agree to this? "Natsu-san we're he—"

"Yahoo!" Natsu-san jumped out of the window and started to dance.

"Jeez, can't you have some patience?" Juvia trailed after the dancing monkey.

"I'm finally out of that death trap!"

"Listen!"

"Sorry."

"How do the others tolerate you?"

"Are you mad?"

"For ignoring Juvia? Yes."

"Sorry."

"It's fine. Hurry up, we don't have all day." Juvia stormed off to the foot of the mountain filled with trees.

"Wait up!"

"Let's take another break." We were treading on snow, the winds are picking up, nothing like the breeze from the lower altitudes. Looking up, Juvia can see there is still ways to go.

"Juvia's sorry for having us take the fifth break, if only Juvia was stronger."

"What are you talking about? You're pretty strong already."

"But Juvia—"

"I just have more stamina than you, doesn't make you any less weak."

"Natsu-san..."

"But still I'm getting pretty hungry."

"Then why don't we have something to eat?" Juvia reached into her bag and pulled out some rations and handed Natsu-san a bag.

"That isn't going to be enough!"

"What can Juvia do about it? We can't cook anything out in the open with all this wind."

"My flames won't be put out."

"That beats the point of eating for energy!"

"Then let's find a cave or something."

"Fine." Juvia reluctantly stood up. Juvia's legs instantly felt more tired than ever. Natsu-san wrapped Juvia's arm around his and supported Juvia.

"It's the least I can do making you push yourself. Plus, I can keep both of us warm." Natsu-san grinned.

"Thank You…" As we walked on snowy ground, Juvia looked back to see our tracks, the faraway ones disappeared without a trace. Our visibility was impaired, snow flying everywhere by the billions no matter where Juvia looked. Juvia is thankful for Natsu-san being here. A walking hearth is pretty handy in this cold climate. A hearth that can care for you, laugh with you, spend time with you.

Walking for half an hour just to find a cavern to cook food doesn't seem like a good idea, but we did it. Huddled together by an open fire, Juvia was stirring some soup with a ladle while Natsu-san was chewing on some jerky.

"Is it done yet?"

"No, you can't rush these things. Juvia swears, you can somehow eat more Gaje—"

"Shush, I hear something coming this way. A lots of them."

"Ehh?"

"Close the lid!" Natsu-san slammed the lid on Juvia's pot. "It's too late, they already got our scents."

"How many are there?"

"I don't know, too many to count, plus, they all smell so similar I can't make heads or tails out of any of them." Natsu-san grimaced. "And I'm hungry too, all that walking took a lot out of me. Sorry Juvia, should've listened to you."

"No, it's Juvia's fault that we are—" Low growls came from deeper in the caverns, then long shadows casted by the fire. Finally, pairs of furious eyes and snarling teeth showed itself. "Mountain Sabres! And so many!" A pack of white monsters the size of a male lions moved steadily towards us. Two long fangs protruded downwards from the side of their jaws, each one long as a fully stretched out palm. The leader of the pack was right in the middle. It was bigger than the rest, at least twice in size, battle scars were riddled all over his body. Most intimidating was the blood red eyes, while the rest has muddy ones.

"Maybe if we take out the albino, the rest will leave."

"Juvia look, they have cubs at the back, they aren't leaving anytime soon."

"So we have to fight."

"I'm all fired up!" Juvia released a torrent of water at the advancing army, only to freeze half-way and fall to the ground with a thud.

"Juvia can only use close-range attacks too…" Juvia really is useless. Four Sabres leapt at us, mouths open, fangs glinting. Juvia summoned a wall of water and let it freeze, while Natsu-san blasted them with fire. Three more jumped at Juvia, five at Natsu-san.

Juvia dodged whenever she could, sending them away with magic in the other situations. They were relentless, always having one sabre charging at us, wearing us down. Attack Juvia sent at them were avoided unless Juvia just dodged a charge. In which case, Juvia would smash their faces with 'Water Slicer', blasting them away or wounding them.

Natsu-san was doing better than Juvia, using highly destructive fire magic, he managed to knock out five of them, Juvia only got three. The temperature was rising rapidly around Natsu-san. He's going to roar in here!? The cavern temperature spiked as Natsu-san sent out his breath attack. It's weaker than usual…

The Sabres on Juvia rushed at Natsu-san along with the alpha of the pack. It was clear the added leader helped their formation. The once wild, but deadly dance became formulated, striking at Natsu-san when he's distracted by their brethren, drawing blood from his arms and legs. They didn't let Juvia rest either, three were circling Juvia not attacking, making sure Juvia can't get to Natsu-san, even going as far as to staying away from Juvia's strike range. If only Juvia was stronger…Juvia can't even protect someone she cares for.

Natsu-san blasted a sabre upwards, slamming it onto the spiked ceiling, killing it in the process. However, the ceiling shook violently. The heat and the impact sent tons of ice down onto Natsu-san, burying him and several other sabres. The leader jumped away in time. Juvia abandon all safety and ran past the sabres that was circling Juvia; received cuts from them on the arm. Juvia's arm felt warm and sticky, but she didn't care. Juvia's only concern was the dragon slayer that was too weak to bust himself out.

Reaching the ice tomb, Juvia formed a wall of water and let it freeze. Leaving her alone until the sabres gets in. They're already clawing at the walls, bashing into it. Juvia must be quick. Juvia used 'Water Slicer' after 'Water Slicer' chipping away at the prison slowly, going as far as punching the walls until Juvia's fist bled. Please, someone help us…

The wall Juvia built is starting to shake more and more, Juvia added more water to the walls, buying her more time but draining her strength. Juvia's hands were bruised and bleeding, to the point where Juvia's magic has taken a pink colour. "Natsu-san! Wake up!" Juvia slammed the tomb with her shoulders. "Juvia doesn't want to lose you" The ice glowed bright orange for a seond, then turned to a flickering dull red and into nothing. Juvia slammed, blasted, begged at the ice to give way, only to receive; a shivering body, low mana reserves and a hoarse throat. The sabres are almost through, but Juvia can't use make another wall. So, she did the next best thing: blast the tomb with everything Juvia's got "Natsuuuu, come back to Juvia!" …Hot! Ridiculously hot!

High pressure, scalding water came surging out of Juvia' palms and into the ice prison. How!? Juvia's water never got this pressurised! The ice melted away at an alarming rate. Juvia can do this! She will save Nat—. A sharp pain ran across Juvia's left leg. Something foreign invaded, Juvia turned and saw two oversized teeth sink into Juvia's calf and more come were coming! Juvia braced herself for the worse but, only intense heat and cinders came. The sabre biting Juvia got punched away too.

"Which…one you harmed Juvia?" Natsu-san voice was heavy and cold, almost laced with ice. Natsu-san stepped out of the remains of his restraints, unleashed ash-reducing amounts of heats that didn't hurt Juvia. Instead, it eased Juvia's pain. Purple spots were forming in Juvia's vision it's clouding with blackness, she is passing out. That's okay because, they invoked the wrath of a dragon.

When Juvia came to, Natsu-san was staring at Juvia with concern all over his face.

"Juvia you're awake!" Natsu-san pulled Juvia into a gentle hug.

"How long has Juvia been out?"

"Only for a minute or so."

"What about the sabres?"

"Some of them ran away, the rest, I killed." Juvia scanned around the cavern, charred or burned corpses were everywhere. "The big one got away though. They got their food anyway."

"But we're still here, and the campfire is untouched…you don't mean—"

"They took their own comrades? Yeah…this place is unforgiving, food is precious after all. They have to feed the young somehow." Natsu-san face was calm, has he seen this before? "By the way, how's your leg?" Juvia turned to her injured calf, two large holes was leaking blood and giving Juvia a headache from the pain.

"Not very good. It can't heal naturally."

"Hold on." Natsu-san walked off to his backpack, returned with a bandage and a bottle with transparent liquid. "Drink this. Supposedly, it'll heal all kinds of wounds, I got it from a quest a while back. The lady said she can only make five a year."

"Juvia can't accept something that valuable."

"Do you think I value money more than my friends?"

"N—no…"

"Then drink it, I'll bandage your leg in the meantime. Besides, Lisanna said a girl having scars is one of the worst things to happen." Juvia gingerly took the bottle from Natsu-san and downed it in one gulp, expecting something that useful to be bitter. It has no taste. A soothing feeling washed over Juvia, all her fatigue and mana deficiency disappeared. The comforting feeling gathered at Juvia's leg injury before staying there.

"Natsu-san?"

"Yeah?" He said replied as his hands went around Juvia's wound for the third time.

"Thank You."

"You're welcome. The lady also said for bigger wounds, the medicines needs at least a day to heal."

"Then Juvia should start cooking again while we wait."

"Please do, I'm really starving."

"Eat some the sabres then." Juvia said, intending as a joke.

"That's a great idea! You're really smart Juvia!" Natsu-san grinned in response. Wait, really? He's actually going to do it? What about Juvia's cooked meals? Didn't Natsu-san say it's delicious? Then why does he prefer that over Juvia's!? In the end, Juvia bitterly worked on a plate of pork as she saw Natsu-san happily devour a wild beast that was going to kill us not too long ago.

Once Juvia was finally done with cooking a meal, Natsu-san came over and tried to grab a piece. Juvia knocked the cheater's hand away.

"Why!? I wanna eat!"

"Didn't you eat some food? Juvia hasn't had anything yet. So you get the leftovers."

"J—Juvia you're scary."

"This is how Juvia always is. Juvia saw how happy you looked eating those creatures, so why don't you eat more of them? There's still plenty left."

"Come on Juvia! That was just the starters, they can't compare to the main course you made."

"It's too late for excuses Natsu-san, bear with it like a man. Thank You for the meal." Juvia picked up her chopsticks and started eating.

"Noooo!"

When Juvia was done with her meal, Juvia found Natsu-san unhappily gnawing on a bone with barely any meat on it, the rest of the bodies were picked clean too. Juvia sighed and pushed over the leftovers to Natsu-san which there was a lot of, because Juvia cooked too much in hopes to stop the glutton from eating those…things. He didn't of course. Natsu-san just being Natsu-san.

"You're lucky Juvia cooked too much." Natsu-san's lifeless eyes rejuvenated in a flash.

"Thank You!" Natsu-san pulled Juvia into another hug before wolfing down the remaining food.

"Now that you're done, let's get out of here before the sabres come back."

"Sure!" Natsu-san gave Juvia a toothy smile and swept Juvia off her feet, into the b—bridal carry! Juvia's back and legs was engulfed in Natsu-san's body heat that quickly spread throughout her body, especially the face.

"W—what are you doing N—Natsu-san?"

"You can't use your left leg, right? So let me carry you."

"W—why not t—the back then?"

"As if you can climb on with one leg. Why are you fussing so much for? Even Lucy didn't whine as much as you."

"Please continue!" Why is Juvia treating this like a competition? Regardless, Juvia won't lose! Not again to 'Love Rival'.

"Girls are weird." We walked out to light snow when we left the cavern. "By the way?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you suddenly drop the 'san' when I was trapped back then? Now you're back to adding 'san'. What's the deal?"

"S—sorry, Juvia was in the heat of the moment and got—"

"Keep that way. We're friends to begin with, you don't have to be so stuffy around me."

"Yes!"

"Juvia, look in front." Natsu's footsteps slowed down. Juvia can't blame him. Being so high up, Juvia saw most beautiful scenery ever. Even though we are in Autumn, the trees in Greybrook retained their green lustre, shining like an emerald of the highest quality. The sun is rising, adding a tint of gold to the painting, flakes of snow acted as cherry blossoms.

"Pretty…"

Juvia really is glad that she went on this job with Natsu.

* * *

 **Thank You for reading! How was the fight scene? I'm really anxious to know, I think it's one of the things I need to work on the most.**

 **Again, I hope you didn't find the story rushing too fast, I aim for quality not a bunch of fluff that means nothing. I'm pretty happy with how Juvia's unnoticed jealously levels are and her developing feelings for Natsu. This chapter has been a blast to write, second to only the stalking one.**

 **I really hope I don't choose the wrong time to put in humour and kill all tension of the scene. I think I done that when Juvia woke up, let me know what you think and I'll try to avoid in the future.**

 **Until then, Thanks for the support! Hope you enjoyed!**


	8. Chapter 8: Date In a Forest

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

Natsu and Juvia decide to camp at the mountains until Juvia's leg recovered. Unwrapping that bandage was the most suspenseful moment of Juvia's life yet. Upon unravelling the final winding, Juvia was delighted to see scar-less pale—almost white skin.

"Natsu! Look, Juvia's leg is healed."

"That stuff really is amazing. I got to thank the lady when I get the chance."

"Please send Juvia's regards."

"No problem. So, shall we go?"

"Yes!" Brimming with excitement of exploring a new place, we took down the tent and campfire we set up from the night we spent here. In no time, we were descending the mountain. It really is strange, the trees here are brown and yellow, sometimes red. But looking at the forest below us, green as far as the eye can see. The mystery really is rousing Juvia's eagerness. Looking at Natsu, Juvia can see the same anticipation.

We were standing at where the Autumn colours meets the Summer. It's like a child drawing territory, Juvia can see a point where Juvia is in Greybrook and not a mountain. Natsu held out his hands for Juvia to grab onto.

"Shall we?"

"Let's." Juvia held onto Natsu's hands, excitement shrouding the embarrassment of holding a man's hand.

"Three…two…one...go!" We stepped into Greybrook at the same time. As childish as this is, doing this reminded Juvia of the rare instances of fun she would have dancing in the rain. The two of us laughed at the absurdity of the situation we are in for a good minute. Natsu placed his hands behind his head. "I wonder what kind of things we'll find here."

"Juvia doesn't know, the guidebook didn't say anything."

"Then there's only one way to find out, the best way. Let's go!" There's that smile Juvia has come to like, filled with positivity.

"Yes!"

The animals here are weird, Juvia saw a mouse-like creature running up a tree. It had large fan-like ears, long pink tail and brown fur. Then there is the deer with two antlers and one horn in the middle. And that's just the start, Juvia has never seen any of these animals and judging from Natsu's expression, neither has he. Most surprising was how friendly these animals are. None of them ran away from us if we got close, in fact they possess the same curiosity as we do, running up to us and sniffing our legs. A white 'deer' nuzzled its nose against Juvia's hands and allowed Natsu to run his hands along it's toned body.

We soon came across a lake, larger than the one Juvia met Natsu on that day. The water was crystal clear, giving Juvia a perfect look at the strange fishes swimming around. Some has a flat body that can float on water, another had scales that kept changing colours. Land animals by the hundreds were on the banks drinking. Different species of animals mingled together without any tension. The fishes had no problem with swimming in between the legs of the animals.

"Juvia, I can't believe that I don't want to kill any of these animals to eat them."

"Natsu! Don't ruin the moment! Juvia was enjoying the atmosphere."

"Then let's rest here, we have been walking for a while." Natsu sat down on a patch of grass, to which Juvia sat next to. Juvia didn't notice until she did it, but Juvia was resting her head on Natsu's shoulder, it just feels right. When Juvia noticed, she shot out of her seat and placed a good distance between us

"S—sorry! Juvia didn't mean to—"

"I don't mind, you can use my shoulders, we are a bit tired.

"T—then…" Juvia nested her head back onto Natu's shoulder, enjoying his warmth again.

"Hey Juvia?"

"What is it?"

"Do you think we should come back here sometime? With the others? It seems like good place to relax here."

"You're right, Juvia thinks we should, it'll be lovely."

"I'm kinda tired, should we sleep?"

"Juvia is sleepy as well, the gemstone can wait, we should rest up first."

"Yeah." We both laid down and let the soft winds lulled us to sleep.

It was morning by the time Juvia woke up. If the sun's position was anything to judge by anyway. Juvia found something really comforting below her, Juvia ran a finger to see what it was. Several bumps that were firm when Juvia pressed of them. Whatever it is, Juvia want one as her blanket, it's so great to sleep on. Wait, Juvia has experienced this kind of heat before, and it's strangely like Natsu's. With an ominous feeling in Juvia's chest, she opened her eyes. J—Juvia was h-hugging N—Natsu! Juvia wanted to pull away at once but the thought of Natsu's body heat leaving Juvia rooted her in place.

It was around this time when Juvia noticed something soft and furry brushed up against Juvia's legs, looking down, Juvia found that she was covered by small animals sleeping on top of her! Deer look-a-likes were nested to Juvia's back. The same thing happened to Natsu except even more were on him, presumably attracted by his body heat. Could it be, these animals were trying to keep us warm? If not, why are they rubbing their fur and tails passively against our bare skin? Not that Juvia minded having a bunch of cute animals sleeping on Juvia but, Juvia can't get up without waking the poor guys. And looking at their sleeping faces made sure Juvia can't do that. Time for some delicate operations.

One by one, Juvia cradled the little animals and placed them next to the big ones. It took quite a while to complete, nerve-racking at the same time. Now it's for Natsu. The task was harder for Natsu, since there were more critters on him, Juvia must be more careful to not bump into any of them. With some difficulty, Juvia managed to get the sleeping animals off Natsu.

"Thank you Juvia."

"Natsu?" Juvia whispered. "You were awake? Since when?"

"When you started to move away the little guys."

"Then you could have helped Juvia."

"Don't wanna." He grinned. This guy just loves to mess with Juvia doesn't he? "Well, let's get out of her—whoa!"

"What's wron—ehh?" We were surrounded by a lot more animals than Juvia originally thought. They somehow managed to organise themselves from smallest to biggest. The animals got bigger the further Juvia looked. Wrapped in a circle of fluffy creatures, Lisanna-san would really love this.

"What now?"

"For starters try not to step on any of them."

"Easier said than done! They're pretty tightly packed."

"How about this?" Juvia climbed onto Natsu's back. "Can you jump out?"

"No problem." Natsu said while smiling, revealing his fangs. "Ready?" Juvia clung tighter to Natsu.

"Anytime."

"Then…" Juvia felt her body escape gravity's pull, Juvia saw the rings upon rings of animals huddled up together as Natsu leaped into the air, a combination of earthy colours made up the circle. "Great thinking Juvia." Natsu said when he touched the ground free of anything moving. Juvia got down from the dragon slayer and stretched.

"Now let's find the gemstone."

"Yeah!"

While Juvia wanted to say we worked hard to try and find the gemstone. But we just ended up goofing around. Natsu swung on vines and got Juvia to do it, he caught Juvia every time she fell. We swum across the lake to who is faster, sadly Juvia forgot to propose a bet to get back at Natsu, so even though Juvia won, she got nothing out of it. We climbed trees to the very top and looked at the clouds, Juvia sang again, this time, of a happy and jolly song. Playing at in the forest with someone was something Juvia has never done, she mainly played with herself and water dolls Juvia created. Juvia feels alive with Natsu.

Our time was cut short when we were picking up fruits to eat, Natsu found three sets of human foot prints that didn't belong to any of ours.

"Juvia, looks like we can't mess around anymore…" Natsu sniffed the foot prints. "They're pretty far from here, so I don't think we will run into them. We need to hurry up though…" Disappointment and responsibility was mixed into Natsu's voice. It hurt to see such a jolly man look so dejected.

"Natsu…we can just come back here again."

"Yeah…we were having so much fun though."

"We can bring more people next time, the more the merrier right?"

"Yeah." Natsu gave Natsu a faint smile of reassurance. "We gotta go—What…is…that?" The forest in front of us distorted in a spiral, the space crumpled like fabric then shattered like glass. Suddenly, a stone house chained by vines and moss appeared, doors open, inviting us in.

"Do we go in?"

"Of course! This looks so interesting, come on Juvia!" The sad Natsu that burned into Juvia's mind was just like an illusion, as if the child-like Natsu never left. Natsu pulled Juvia into the house hastily.

All the wooden furniture was eaten away by bugs and broken down by tiny lifeforms, Juvia could barely see what they were supposed to be. The stone tables and cabinets remained, only surrounded by plantation. Right at the entrance, there was a stairway leading upstairs. We followed up the stair to an empty room—or now empty room. On the furthest wall, a bunch of etched words were unblemished, not a single plant could be seen.

"Juvia, can you read this?"

"No, only a few words, our written language must've changed too much from the time this was written. Juvia can only pick out some of the words that is still used today."

"You too huh?"

"Why don't we contact Levy-san? She might know how to read this."

"Great idea! Wait a sec." Natsu dug into his bag and pulled out a lacrima. Soon, we were connected to Fairy Tail. To the bartender, Mira-san

"Natsu! And Juvia! What's wrong? Master said you were on a job, did something happen?"

"Mira-san, is Levy-san there?"

"Yes, do you want me to call her over?"

"Please do."

"Leeevyy! Juvia is looking for you."

"Coooming!" A childish face with blue hair greeted us. "Whats up Juvia? Natsu's with you too!"

"Well, we came across some old writing that we can't read, can you translate it for us?" Levy-san's eyes became full of excitement.

"Really!? Let me see, quickly!"

"Here."

"I see…ummm…this looks like something written from about four hundred years ago, maybe even longer than that. Give me a second…

"Okay, this is the translated text, you got to tell me what happened when you get back okay? Then here goes:

 _Dear Travellers,_

 _To be able to come here, means you have a kind heart and a pure motive. My name is Demetrius Vidal, the wizard that is responsible for creating the mountains you have conquered to get here. I hope is wasn't too hard of a journey._

" _I originally created this place to get away from the evil and greed that is around my time, I wish that we have moved past such selfish ways of living. But alas, the likeness of that happening is slim. As you might have already noticed, this place has no predators, making every animal you meet very friendly. Wanting to make this place a safer place for these animals and to protect this place—my treasure—Vertwyn Garden. I contacted a genius wizard—to which he doesn't wish to have to his name disclosed—in helping me construct a barrier to ensure that all foreign wildlife cannot get in the garden._

" _As a reward for getting in this house, and for showing me that there is still purity after the years that must have past, I planted a special tree that bears gemstones as fruit in the middle of the forest. That isn't technically true but, being adventurous people that got over the mountains surely, surprises are something you enjoy._

" _Of course, I cannot fully let magic to do my work, that's why I have an old friend to judge whether you are worthy of my gift. Again, I'll leave that for you to discover._

 _From a friend of the distant past,_

 _Demetrius Vidal._

And that's it. I want all the details when you come back okay?"

"No problem, see you later Levy. Thanks!" Natsu said. "I'm all fired up now! Let's go Juvia!"

"Yes!" Unprecedented levels of excitement welled from deep inside us, we ran straight to the centre of the forest, thankfully, the playing we did brought us really close to the centre in this massive forest.

Just walking past a wall of trees, we came across a clearing of plain grass. Right in the middle, was a huge tree—bigger but not taller than the other trees—with transparent trunks and branches, Juvia could see the tree giving off a rainbow radiance, illuminating the grass with a white glow. The tree has no leaves, as the trees seem to take what it needs from the ground. Inside the trunk, Juvia could see yellow liquid flowing up to the branches. Magic! And such pure concentration! From the branches, the magic poured into the huge amount of fruit that was hanging. They all looked unique, from colour to shape, each fruit looks like master craftsmanship, giving off different colour auras made from magical energy. So that's where the white light is coming from! The magic in so intense that the fruits must release them in the form of light.

Despite the density of magic power gathered here, Juvia felt nothing but gentleness and positivity. Natsu seems to be looking at something else, up in the sky. Blazing wings the size of buildings stacked together, talons ten times larger than the sabre's fangs, a majestic bird frame, all this coated in golden flames perched on the tree. A phoenix.

It's like the sun took physical form and came down to greet us. The grass caught on fire just from the heat alone, the same golden flames danced around the fields as the legendary bird. The flames from the guardian was put out, showing the stunning red feathers that tapered to gold ones at the end of its wings and tail. A pair of green eye stared at us, unmoving, waiting for us. Juvia then felt another source of heat coming from next to her.

"Natsu! We can't fight that! This has already become an S-class job! We must retreat!"

"And skip out on a fight like this? No way!"

"Natsu! Don't make Juvia knock you out and drag you away from here! Quick! Before it attacks—"

"This is lovely! A phoenix and a tree that prints money." A rough voice emerged from the forest. "Listen Odis, Brady, if we bag these two, we'll be set for life." Sinister-looking men stepped in, all of them preparing their magics. A tall blond man stood at the centre, smoking a cigar, scars dominated his face. The one on the left has green hair and a buff figure. On the right, a cloaked man stood holding a tome in his hands.

"Yes boss! The life of the rich awaits." The cloaked one said.

"Those two over there! Get out of here before we kill you!" The boss shouted.

"The only one that should be going is…you guys!" Natsu vanished and punched the cloaked one in the gut, sending him flying to a tree. "Juvia, back me up! I'm getting fired up." Natsu's hands were coated in gold flames, scales were showing up at different parts of his body. When did he eat the phoenix's flames!? Juvia could only dumbly nod and prepare magic of her own.

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 **Thank you for reading! We finally get to the crux of the quest, let me know what you think of the pacing!**

 **Since no one has said anything about my fighting scenes, I don't know where can I improve on. So, if the next chapter turns out bad, please forgive me. Another thing I want to know is if I am jumping from scene to scene too much. It's been bothering me for a while now. So do tell me what you think.**

 **Thanks for the support! Look forward to your feedback!**


	9. Chapter 9: Living Life

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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"What is this power? He took out Brady in one hit! Odis, you take care of the woman, I'll handle this guy myself." The man's magic power flared into dangerous levels. "Boy, I am Alphonse, what is yours."

"Natsu Dragneel." Natsu scowled at his opponent. "What are you doing here?"

"To get rich of course!" Alphonse waved his hands in a grandiose manner. "Aren't you here for the same reason?"

"We're not scum like you!" Natsu kicked off the ground "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu's punch was blocked by a wall of darkness.

"What's wrong in wanting to become rich? Almost everyone is the same. I just use more…effective methods"

"You're the exact person that Demetrius doesn't want in here! Get out!" Natsu turned his stopped momentum into weapon by delivering a roundhouse kick to Alphonse's chest, sending him backwards.

"Heeey. Shouldn't we get started baby?" The green-haired man—Odis said—pulling Juvia out of her observation. "You're lucky that I know how to cut back unlike the boss. I would hate to harm a body like yours." The pig licked his lips. "I'll take good care of you after we're done." He laughed manically, sending lustful eyes Juvia's way, making her skin crawl. Juvia will dispose of this man!

"Your words disgust Juvia, leave before Juvia makes you."

"Oh Hoooo! A babe that talks funny!" Odis let out another hyena laugh. "This really is the best!"

"Water Slicer!" Two whips of water rushed towards the creature at high speeds, dissipating upon touching a dirt wall that wasn't there before.

"Feisty too. I'll enjoy breaking you! Go! Get me a new toy!" A dozen hands erupted from the ground, charging at Juvia. Juvia used another 'Water Slicer' but, utilised what she gained back at the mountains. The already thin blades compressed into a sheet of deadly water, parting the hands in half.

"Juvia will ask you again," Forming water blades behind Juvia's back. "leave now, or else!"

"Fun! Let's go out on our first date!" Odis covered his hand in stone and ran towards Juvia, dodging the blades she sent at him. Odis punched Juvia in the stomach morphing Juvia's body into water. "What the?"

"Too bad. Juvia's body is made of water. You should have taken Juvia's advice. Water Lock!" A dome of water formed around the confused man, sealing his movements and depriving him of oxygen

"Y—you bitch…"

"Maybe if you didn't underestimate Juvia, this might have gone differently. You did manage to block Juvia's Water Slicer after all. However, you looked at Juvia with eyes that Juvia would only reserve for her lover." The dome whirled violently, acting upon Juvia's feelings, steam coming off it. "Juvia felt disgusted, it's like thousands of worms squirming around Juvia's body." Odis finally fell unconscious, so Juvia released him from his prison. For safety, Juvia bound his limbs with climbing rope Juvia originally intended for the mountain. Now to help Natsu.

Natsu and Alphonse was exchanging blows with Natsu having the advantage.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu let loose a breath attack, blasting Alphonse away. "Looks like your friend is taken out. Juvia! You stay out of this!"

"Aren't you the cocky one? Telling your partner to stay away and not work together."

"I don't need Juvia to defeat you." Natsu ran at Alphonse again.

"I don't know about that! Grim Reaper!" Alphonse leached the shadows from the trees, consolidating them into a scythe. The tables have turned. Alphonse kept Natsu at bay with his additional range all the while delivering nicks into his flesh. The more wounds the scythe created, it grew bigger and Alphonse's wounds began to heal. Juvia fought back the urge to help Natsu. Juvia must trust Natsu.

"What's wrong kid? Need a nap already?"

"As if! Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu blasted his breath at point-blank range, forcing Alphonse to use his scythe to block the flames. The scythe was melted at first, but it shrunk back to its original size and repaired. Not giving Alphonse time to rest, Natsu rushed in for a series of attacks. "Fire Dragon's Claw! Wing Attack! Sword Horn!" Alphonse flew into a tree, sending it tumbling down.

Alphonse's scythe seems to have faded in exchange for healing some of the damage Natsu has done.

"Not bad kid. You would do great as my right-hand man. How about it? I'll even let you keep that blue-head and you'll be the only one allowed to touch her."

"I belong to Fairy Tail." Natsu said menacingly, hands lit aflame.

"That's a shame. Death Billows!" A wave of darkest took Natsu to the skies. "If only you took up my offer Natsu Dragneel. Cocytus!" Alphonse gathered magic energy in his hands and unleashed a powerful blast at the falling Natsu.

"Crimson Lotus: Phoenix Blade!" Like a golden comet through a dark sky, Natsu tore past Alphonse's spell and crash right into the caster.

"What…are you?"

"A dragon slayer from Fairy Tail." Alphonse fell to the floor, losing consciousness. Before he did, his magic power inflated.

"I'll take the girl with me! Kiss of Death! Your water body can't save you!" A spear made of malice surged past Natsu and aimed at Juvia's heart at blinding speeds. Juvia can't dodge in time!

"You bastard! Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" The next thing Juvia knew was tasting Natsu's blood in Juvia's mouth…metallic and unpleasant.

Where Natsu's stomach was, is a quickly fading spear touching Juvia's chest.

"Nat…su?"

"Sorry Juvia, looks like we can't come back here again. I'm staying." Natsu wrapped his scarf around Juvia's neck and collapsed to the ground, soaking the ground with his blood.

"Natsu…" Tears were forming in Juvia's eyes, the sky beat Juvia to it. It was already crying. "Wake up! Don't you have more of that medicine? Please…don't leave Juvia here. What about your family back at Fairy Tail? Don't you have to settle the score with Gray-san?" Juvia was shaking the unmoving body constantly. "You can't die here! You still haven't found Igneel-san yet!" Juvia gripped onto Natsu's scarf. Juvia sees a large shadow cast over her. At least Juvia will go with you…

The phoenix didn't eat Juvia but stretched its head over to Natsu's body and started to drip tears over Natsu's body. The tears! Juvia's attention went back to the ugly wound, wincing at the sight of it. Drop by drop, more tears landed on the wound, closing it slowly. Thank You for saving him! The rain stopped.

"But why? Why save him now, when you could have done it earlier?" Juvia stared into the green orbs.

"Because I want to see the extent to this child's kindness. I want to see if the son of Igneel is as noble and righteous as he is." A voice rang into Juvia's head—a female voice. "I've been watching you two from the moment you entered the forest. You didn't try to find this tree instantly, instead, you had fun in this garden, the main reason why Demetrius created Vertwyn in the first place." The wound now fully closed.

"A—are you the old friend Demetrius-san mentioned?"

"Yes. It is my duty to determine who is worthy of the Catalyst."

"Catalyst?"

"The gemstone which you came here for."

"Then did we pass or not?" Natsu's voice! It was rough and pained but that's Natsu's voice! He tried to sit up, failing instantly.

"Just lie down Natsu."

"Juvia, she knows Igneel, I have to ask her where that old lizard is." Determined eyes told Juiva whatever she says won't have an effect on him.

"Then before you do, just promise Juvia that you won't do that again or Juvia will tell Erza-san about this!" Natsu's face pale, looking like he was on the verge of death again.

"I—I promise! Just don't tell Erza please!"

"Good."

"Juvia, you can be scary at times you know?"

"Only when dealing with reckless dragons."

"I was just trying to save you."

"Juvia doesn't need saving at the cost of your life!"

"Natsu Dragneel." The phoenix began. "While I have fought against your father many times and is in a rivalry relationship with him, I don't know where he is."

"I see." Natsu went in deep thought. "Well, thank you for saving me then…"

"My name is Vermillion."

"Thanks Vermillion." "Thank You for saving Natsu, Vermillion-san."

"No need to thank me, I'm only repaying for letting you two get in that situation in the first place."

"That's fine I guess. So, did we pass your test?"

"Yes. Follow me." Vermillion-san led us to the foot of the tree. "Both of you, take a fruit." Natsu grabbed a fruit that took after an apple and Juvia took one that looked like a pear.

"Thanks for the food!" Natsu tossed the 'apple' right into his mouth, stem and all.

"N—Natsu! We need that!"

"Bwut whime bumbry!"

"That's not the problem here!" Vermillion-san brought about a laughter that echoed throughout the forest.

"I have given ten or so fruit away ever since I took position as the guardian of this place, but none of them actually ate the fruit."

"Seee! You are a werido!"

"But he made the right choice."

"Ehh!?" Natsu spat out the seeds into his hands. Pretty! Five little gemstones shone brightly in the sun. They seemed to made of liquid, changing colours constantly and moving like a lava lamp.

"That is the Catalyst. All the people that got a fruit wasn't adventurous enough to risk what they worked so hard on. Wasting most of the Catalyst's true potential. Of course, the fruit itself is powerful, but can't hold a candle to the seed." Natsu gave Juvia a really smug grin that irritated Juvia.

"Come on Juvia! Eat it! It's delicious!" Still mad at Natsu's face, Juvia took a bite. The juices of the pear gushed out, filling Juvia with a combination of flavour she had never tasted before. It was light like a person's first love, then turned to sweetness of a relationship, then the bitterness of conflict and finally wrapped up with a sweetness and satisfaction that wasn't there before. Juvia kept taking bite after bite, showing Natsu an embarrassing side of Juvia. What will he think of Juvia now? After getting five gemstones, Juvia looked away, her face the colour of Natsu's hair.

"Hey Vermillion, do you mind if I give one to someone that hired us to some here?"

"Of course, provided that they are using it for a good cause.

"It's for a proposal ring."

"Then it is fine. Come, touch the trunk of this tree, it's the last message from Demetrius. You two are the first one hear this." Natsu locked fingers with Juvia.

"Ready?"

"Anytime." Both of us placed our free hand to the trunk of the tree. A message played in our heads

" _Travellers, to be able to hear this message means that you have the true form of the Catalyst. I am glad that there still such people left in this world. I have a favour to ask. Please spread happiness throughout these lands._

 _"I have seen too much sadness and sin. Teach the people of laughter, love, living. Teach them how to look forward to tomorrow, how to focus on the positives, how to enjoy life._

 _"As a parting gift, I will tell you of the Catalyst. The Catalyst will change its magical properties to which will suit the user the best. But it will always have these characteristics no matter the mutation._

 _"The ability to store and release magic, to amplify magic, and to grow another tree. Sadly, the last one is tricky to manifest. Only under special conditions will the gemstone ever sprout. However, if you truly are the person I think you are, it should be an easy task for you._

 _"Farewell, I wished to have met you in person. I, Demetrius Vidal bless you with safe travels and a happy life._ "

"Climb on." Vermillion-san said. "I'll take you out of here."

"Thank You Vermillion-san." Juvia got on Vermillion first then followed by Natsu. Vermillion flapped her strong wings twice and took off. Tired from the fighting, Natsu fell asleep immediately. Just watching his cute sleeping face drew a yawn from Juvia's mouth. Juvia moved closer to Natsu, wrapped his arms around Juvia and drifted off to sleep. This first-class blanket, really is the best! O—of course! He makes a great friend too. Maybe...a bit more than that...

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"Farewell, Natsu, Juvia, feel free to come back anytime."

"Are you sure? Fairy Tail is a rowdy bunch, I'm coming back with my friends next time."

"No problem. If your family is like you, you all are welcome." Vermillion flapped her wings and left.

"Natsu."

"Hmm?"

"Looks like Vermillion-san brought us close enough to town, we don't need to take a carriage."

"Really? Thank god!" Juvia giggled at Natsu's silliness.

"Come on! We still need to walk there."

"Beats the death machine."

"Last one there loses." Juvia took off after saying those words, ignoring the accusations from Natsu.

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"How's…that…" The two of us were heaving from the race. "I still…beat you."

"Juvia was…going…easy on you…you just…recovered after…all."

"Liar!"

"Let's just go in…" Not wanting to argue with Natsu, Juvia knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Juvia, we're back from the quest."

"The doors are opening now." Caroline was greeting us again. This time, in a lovely purple dress and free-flowing hair. "Melvin was really anxious for the past few days. He thought you two might've died."

"We ain't dropping that easily!"

"Then, I will guide you to Melvin's room" Caroline-san led us on the same route the first time we came here. "Mel-kun, I brought them here."

"Come in." We entered the room again and Melvin-san was sitting at his desk. Bags were under his eyes.

"Were you that worried Melvin-san? You have bags under your eyes."

"N—no, Caroline kept pestering me at night so—" Melvin flinched at the sight of Caroline looking coldly at him. "Yes I was, I kept thinking what if one of you got sick, or maybe the carriage broke down, or you two ran out of food. Perhaps—"

"A—anyway, we got the gemstone you asked for." Juvia placed a Catalyst onto the desk.

"Y-yes, Thank You." Taking the gem into his hands, Melvin-san realised the gravity of the Catalyst. "That's some intense magic coming off this tiny thing. What if I run it through a test to see the composition and find out what's makes this so—"

"Melvin-san!"

"My apologies. I have this nasty habit of running my mouth for a long time. That's why my friends always call me 'Tappy' and it's the most—"

"Mel-kun." Caroline added anger into her voice, snapping Melvin-san out of his rant.

"A—anyway, here's your reward." Melvin-san lifted—with trouble—two large sacks of Jewels on the table. After counting the amount, Juvia and Natsu rose from our seats.

"Well then, Melvin-san good luck."

"Th—Thank You."

* * *

Now back at Fairy Tail, we were instantly interrogated by Levy-san in rapid succession.

"Welcome back you two! Well, what happened? Did you find some ruins? Where was it?" As we told Levy-san of our adventures—leaving out all the playing we did. we attracted the attention of Master and more than half of the guild members present.

"I see…" Master took a gulp from his mug. "to think I gave a S-class mission to Natsu and Juvia, it's my fault. I'm sorry you two. I put you in unnecessary danger."

"it's fine gramps. I had fun."

"That's not the point you brat!" Master slapped Natsu on the head. "In any case, we must honour Demetrius's wishes. Listen you brats! Demetrius makes a great point, we must influence other's lives in a good way, lead them to a good life. Laugh when we're happy; cry when we're sad; be humble when we win; be calm when we lose. Live life to the fullest! Without regrets." The guild hall erupted with:

"Yes Master!"

"Good, now here's to hoping Demetrius's world comes true! Starting from Fairy Tail! Let's party!" Everyone raised their mugs and another Fairy Tail party began. Complete with brawls, laughter, and…happiness. Juvia spotted Natsu brawling with Gray-san, his feral eyes, toned body, scarf fluttering from moving around. This side of Natsu is cool too.

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 **Thanks for reading! Really sorry for the sloppy writing on this one! The pacing feels a bit fast. If you guys think so too, I'll re-write it one of these days. Maybe when I run out of ideas and need some time to brainstorm.**

 **Sorry for a bunch of clichés I used, like a character taking a shot for another character, said character having plot armour so strong, they can jump into lava and not die, etc. I'll try my best to avoid these in the future. If it's really bad, I'll take it down.**

 **One thing I need to get off my chest. I used this site to help me get over my laziness. It worked too well. I'm compromising the quality of my work for quantity. Hopefully, in the future, I'll take my time into writing and not worry about things so much.**

 **Thanks for the kind words, I look forward to your feedback!**

 **Edit: Finally got rid of that unsightly** **cliché storm. Not all of it though as some of it its needed sadly. After a great person's opinion, I have made some slight tweaks to re-align Juvia's feelings to a gentle slope and not a mountain. Still looking for that fight scene feedback though!**


	10. Chapter 10: Harvest Festival!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

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Worries of a female Fairy Tail mage never stops. Now that Juvia has her rent covered for the next couple of months, Juvia is anxious about the up and coming 'Harvest Festival' next week, more specifically, the 'Miss Fairy Tail Contest'. Should Juvia participate this year? Juvia was well received last time, and Laxus-san isn't going to be pulling the same stunt as last time. But Juvia joined in the contest to impress Gray-san. Now, Juvia isn't trying to win Gray-san over, so she doesn't have much reason to join in. Juvia's eyes wandered towards a pink pillow on her couch and thought up of Natsu. No! Now isn't the time for daydreaming!

All of Juvia's friends is joining in so, won't it be weird if Juvia didn't go? But Juvia isn't as pretty as the others…she would just lose. Juvia rolled around on her bed for a while, weighing her options. Two knocks on Juvia's door announced that someone was there.

"Juvia? It's Laki, Master said he has an announcement to make, so come to the guild at nine."

"Okay!" Juvia has about an hour until the gathering time, so Juvia continued contemplating her decision on 'Miss Fairy Tail Contest'.

* * *

All of us were gathered at the guild hall, it really was an impressive sight, Master was standing on a railing looking down on us.

"Alright you brats! As you know, Fairy Tail hasn't had a good Harvest Festival in seven years, this year, we're bringing it back. We must make this a good one. We have the benefit of riding on our Grand Magic Games victory, people our expecting us to make it a good festival. To help us make this year extra special, there will be a few changes.

"First, aside from the usual 'Miss Fairy Tail Contest' and 'Fantasia Parade', there will be a new event. One that was created by Laxus: Battle of Fairy Tail!" The guild hall became loud with whispers and gossip. To be honest, Juvia wasn't too sure about this either, Juvia doesn't have the fondest memories of the last battle.

"Silence!" Erza-san calmed the hall down with fear. "Master isn't finished."

"Thank You. I know the last one wasn't for good purposes." Master gave a stern look to Laxus-san. "However, we can make this year a great one. Instead of a battle royal, it will be a tournament. Anyone Fairy Tail member can join, but only eight members may compete, first come, first serve. The winner will get five hundred thousand Jewels and a chance to fight against a S-class wizard. If you want to that is.

"You can either knock out your opponent or have them forfeit, the arena that you fight in will be announced later. The results of this tournament will go into evaluating the candidates for the S-class trials. Any questions?" Natsu put his hands. "Yes Natsu?"

"Can you sign me up now?"

"No problem. Mira, mark it down." Mira-san started to write something on a sheet of paper. The guild escalated into a roar of complaints.

"Just like that!?"

"I did say first come, first serve."

"I'm all fire up now! Happy, we're going to train!"

"Aye!" Happy-san took Natsu out of the guild and they disappeared behind the guild doors."

"I wasn't done yet…" Master rubbed his temple. "Anyway…besides adding a tournament, people from Saber Tooth will be helping us make this festival a success."

"Master," Gajeel-kun raised his hands. "Will they get to join in the tournament? Also, if Salamander is in this, count me in gi hi."

"Very good, Mira, add Gajeel to the list. And no, Saber Tooth won't be joining. They will however, have an exhibition match with one of our members. As for who, we haven't decided yet. Anyone else that wants to join, please come to my office. Until then, dismissed!" The crowd formed into small groups of people chatting about the announcement Master had made, Juvia could see several people lining up to Master's office, Gray-san, Elfman-san, Freed-san and a few others that was blocked off by the sea of heads. For now, Juvia just went back to Fairy Hills.

* * *

Juvia is more confused than ever, maybe Juvia should just help out in the parade. Juvia should take a walk.

Juvia's walk took her to the forest. Caked with dead leaves, each step Juvia took made a crisp, crunching sound, clearing Juvia's mind of her needless thoughts. Wearing a pearly coat, Juvia walked through the forest, watching the leaves flutter to the ground. Juvia found a dirt path that she tread on many things during her time tailing Natsu. Might as well visit him…

Reaching the house, Juvia found no one, both outside and inside. Then Juvia saw a pillar of flames shoot up which quickly dissipated, a gust of warm wind followed after the spectacle. When Juvia got to the source of the flames, Juvia came across a flat area free of grass and leaves. Several training dummies lined up in a row, all burnt, if not charred, they looked untouched for years. At the foot of the dolls, signs with childish handwriting—faded from the years—stood. They read 'Erza, Gray, Laxus, Gildarts and Mira' in that order. At the centre of the training area, was a massive crater, fire was still present, Juvia can feel the heat from here. Getting to the rim of the crater, Juvia saw Natsu laying down without a top, breathing heavily and Happy-san floating next to him. They were saying something, but the crackling of fire made it hard to hear, so Juvia slid down to the centre.

"Natsu, you should take a break, aren't you hungry?"

"I can…still go on…" Natsu sat up. "But I guess a snack wouldn't hurt. Happy, can ya get me some food from the house?"

"Aye sir!" Happy-san was flying out of the crater when he spotted Juvia." Juvia, what are you doing here? Are you scouting out your opponent?"

"No, Juvia was taking a walk and decided to give you two a visit since Juvia was in the area."

"Then make sure Natsu doesn't do thing stupid for me, he likes to push himself behind my back."

"Yes!" Natsu stood up with shaky legs.

"Now that Happy is gone, let's try this again."

"Please don't burn Juvia while you're at it."

"Juvia! When were you here?"

"Just now. What were you doing?"

"Training."

"Too recklessly! Rest up like Happy-san said. You might get better results that way."

"But I only have a week left." Natsu whined. "How am I supposed to beat Erza if I keep resting just because I'm a little tired?"

"Even Asuka-chan can take you down like this." Juvia lightly pushed Natsu's forehead, his legs instantly gave way and plummeted him to the ground.

"Ouch! What did you do that for!?"

"Also, if Erza-san could be beaten after a week of training, then you would've won a long time ago."

"What else can I do? I don't have the time."

"Natsu, you're not being yourself." That got a reaction from the stubborn man.

"Leave me alone." Natsu turned away from Juvia.

"Weren't you the one that said Fairy Tail will be there for you? Tell Juvia what's wrong."

"Natsuuu! I got some fish!"

"Oooh Happy! Thanks." Natsu took the fish out of Happy-san's paws, cooked them and started to devour them.

"Seeeee! You were hungry, what did I say?" Natsu kept quiet, he didn't even give a stubborn answer.

"Natsu, don't use your meal as an excuse to run away from Juvia's question." Natsu's mouth stopped eating. "What. Is! Wrong?"

"Nothing…"

"If Juvia can't help you, Juvia can ask Erza-san or Mira-san to help you."

"I not strong enough…" Silence told him to keep going. "Since we came back from that job, something has been bothering me. If I was stronger, I didn't have to make you worry, you wouldn't have got hurt. It's just like when Lisanna left us. If I wasn't weak, Mira might've taken me to help her, Lisanna wouldn't have to leave her family for so long, Mira and Elfman wouldn't have cried.

"Every time I thought I got strong, people I care for keeps getting hurt. What if next time, I won't be so lucky? What if because of my weakness, someone gets killed—"

"Isn't that why we form teams? You told Juvia that Fairy Tail will always support Juvia, family will always help each other right? Then, you don't need to worry."

"That's different!"

"How is it!? We are weak by nature! That's why we form bonds, to help each other. Even Gildarts-san has moments of powerlessness, we can't do everything alone, so don't try to take all the burden by yourself. Depend on us! Depend on Juvia!"

"That's right Natsu, we always got your back. So turn back to the stupid Natsu I know!" Happy shouted

"Who's Stupid!?"

"You are!" "Natsu is!" Natsu's expression when through a sequence of changes, from anger to shocked. Then from shocked to acceptance. Finally, to the same grin he proudly showed the world.

"I really have been retarded, haven't I?"

"Just a bit more than usual."

"Hey!" Natsu dove his hands into Happy-san bag, pulled out a fish and swallowed it whole.

"My fishhhh! Why did you do that?" Happy-san and Natsu butted heads.

"For making fun of me!"

"I always do that! How is that any different?" The two pulled at each other's cheeks, stretching them as far as they could go. Where did Natsu suddenly get all this energy? He could barely stand a minute ago! Suddenly, Happy flew behind Juvia's back. "Juviaaa! Natsu is bullying me! Beat him up for me."

"Hey! Don't hide behind her you coward! Come fight me like a man!"

"I'm a cat!"

"Then, fight me like a man-cat!"

"That doesn't make any sense! Stupid Natsu!"

"That's enough! Natsu needs to rest. Juvia will solve Natsu's hunger! Happy-san don't provoke him any further."

"Aye…"

A quick meal later, Natsu was back to energetic spirts, for better or for worse. Juvia was washing the dishes when Natsu came up behind Juvia.

"So did you join the tournament yet?"

"No, why?

"Why not! You're pretty strong, I would love to fight you!"

"To be honest, Juvia isn't sure if Juvia will participate in anything besides the parade…"

"Not even the contest?"

"No."

"That's a shame, you did really well last time, third place wasn't it?"

"Yes, but, Juvia has no reason to join in this year?"

"Why?" Juvia finished wiping the dishes and placed them on the counter.

"Gray-san has a girlfriend."

"But you looked cool up on the stage."

"You think so?"

"Of course!"

"But Juvia isn't as good as the others."

"What are you saying? You look super pretty!" Heat travelled to Juvia's cheeks. Natsu, you shouldn't say these things so casually.

"Would Natsu go and support Juvia if she joins?"

"That's what family is for." Natsu…maybe you aren't as dumb as Juvia thinks you are. "Well, I support everyone up there. Pretty sure everyone else does that, especially the guys, they cheer so loudly my ears hurt every time someone walks on stage." Juvia takes that back.

"Natsu, I was wrong for thinking differently of you. Natsu is Natsu after all…"

"What do you mean by that!?" Juvia just might join in the fray after all…

"But Thank You, you cleared Juvia's mind."

"No problem!"

"Juvia needs to prepare for the contest, see you there Natsu. Juvia will be rooting for at the tournament!"

"Yeah!"

* * *

Harvest Festival is here! The streets of Magnolia were packed with people. High quality farmed produce sat in stalls of proud farmers. Other stores showed their wares. Most people however, was heading to Fairy Tail's hall. The 'Miss Fairy Tail Contest' is about to start!

Juvia is in the back-stage preparing for her performance. Men kept piling in the guild hall. Natsu was easy to spot out with his pink hair, even if he wasn't in the front row. He was shoving several grilled squid in his mouth. Sitting in the same row, was the other males of Fairy Tail, hushing Max-san to start the show. It wasn't until a few minutes later did everyone get a place to sit or stand.

"Thank You for your patience! This years 'Miss Fairy Tail Contest' will start right now!" Cheers reined the guild hall. "This year, we got a lot of great candidates this year, so without further ado, here is the first contestant! We got a beauty with rich skin, someone that in known for drinking but this striking lady is here to take the crown. Ladies and gentlemen give a round of applause fooor, Cana Alberona!"

Cana-san strutted on stage wearing a blue bikini. The crowd roared in approval. Cana-san threw some cards up in the air.

"Here's some service for you!" The card wizard declared. The cards exploded in white light, blinding the stage for a brief moment. Once the light faded, three Cana-san was posing up on stage!

"Oh my!" Max-san started. "Cana has duplicated herself and tripled her appeal!" The Cana-san in the middle blew an air kiss to the crowd. As expected, Cana-san is going to be hard to be. If this isn't Fairy Tail, she might have already won. But, Juvia will not lose!

"For the next contestant the embodiment of big surprises coming in small packages, her cute and small stature has won the hearts of many people in the guild! Please welcome, Levy McGarden!" A ball made of Solid Script rolled in. It had lots of bright colour with words like flower, ice, and thunder written on the ball. "What's this? Levy's magic encased her in an array of colours, what will happen now?"

"Is everyone ready?" Levy-san manipulated the crowd into a torrent of cheers. "Then…" The ball busted open, revealing Levy-san wearing a cheerleader's outfit holding pom-poms and striking a cute pose. "Tah dah!" The crowd had another heated response, which even retained as Levy-san left the stage. Another tough opponent…

"The next lady just speaks of high-class! A woman with bewitching eyes, the self-proclaimed Fairy Queen! Welcome! Evergreen!"

"What do you mean 'Self-proclaimed'!? I AM the Fairy Queen!" Evergreen-san flew to the stage wearing her usual expensive green clothes with a brown fur coat. Evergreen-san took to the skies, using her magic to create floating balls of light all the while dancing elegantly. The masses cheered the moment Evergreen-san stopped. The performance was strong, but Juvia can beat it.

"Next, is a first-time participant of Miss Fairy Tail! Like Levy, she is small and has the kindness of an angel! Our guild's sky dragon slayer! Give a warm welcome to Wendy Marvel!" No one came out… "Ehh? Wendy! Take the stage!"

"S—sorry!" Wendy-san wearing pure white tunic and sandals came running up on stage, her twin-tails bouncing up and down. "I was worried that my hair was—" Somehow, Wendy-san tripped and planted her face on the ground. The crowd watched in silence as Wendy-san picked herself up. "Ouch…ahh! This is my first time, please go easy on me." Wendy-san bowed, drawing loud cheers "Then, please enjoy!" White wings sprouted from Wendy-san back. Using magic, Wendy-san floated to the air. The angel twirled twice, before bending forward slightly and hiding her hands behind her back. "Please tell me where it hurts, I'll make it go away!" Wendy-san put on an angelic smile that radiated of purity and innocence. Ear-bursting cheers echoed the throughout the guild hall, louder than any of the other performances. That's when Juvia realised. Juvia's biggest opponent was cuteness!

* * *

 **Thank You for reading! I hope the Miss fairy tail thing isn't too much for you. If so let me know and I'll cut some performances out in the next chapter.**

 **This chapter took so long to write! Mainly because the talk between Natsu and Juvia was kind of weird until I changed it many times to the form you see now.**

 **What did you think of how I took the Harvest Festival? This is the only reason why most of the chapters were in Autumn by the way. That and I like Autumn.**

 **Thanks for your support! I look forward to your feedback!**


	11. Chapter 11: Two Battles

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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"Good job Wendy!" Juvia could see Carla-san shouting within the crowd, pride brimming from her face. Wendy-san, you are Juvia's biggest obstacle! Natsu was wearing a supportive smile towards Wendy-san, giving her a thumbs-up. Juvia will win that smile too!

"Now we have a woman persistent like the waves!" That's Juvia's cue! Juvia started to cast her magic, starting with orb of water; moulding it; giving it form, to the shape of a horse. "A woman like no other! Dazzling like a sea-side view! Give a round of applause to…Juvia Lockser!" Wearing a blue dress and a tiara, Juvia grabbed onto the reins of her horse and guided it to the stage. Just watch Natsu! Juvia will show you what Juvia can do!

"A—a princess walked up to the stage! Now, what will she do!?" The horse Juvia made scattered to countless droplets, most of them formed into floating orbs in the air, the others, gathered into a nightingale. Juvia held out her fingers, the nightingale landed softly on Juvia's index finger.

"Which one of you will be Juvia's prince?" A barrage of 'me!' came from the crowd, followed by cheering as Juvia left the stage, not as big as Wendy-san's though. That doesn't matter, that look Natsu gave Juvia, was supportive and happy. The results of the contest seem less important now as Juvia breathed a sigh of relief. Juvia did her best!

All of us were standing at the stage with the lights dimmed. "Thank you for waiting, the results are in! But first, how was this year's contest? Was it good?" Approval exploded from the crowd. "Did you enjoy it!?" More noise. "Then without any more waiting! In third place…Erza Scarlet! Congratulations!" A spotlight shone on Erza-san wearing a maid outfit. Juvia didn't even make it to third…Lisanna-san's appeal was amazing afterall…

"And in second…" Spotlight shone on Juvia. Ehhhh? Juvia beat Erza-san? "Juvia Lockser!" Something must've gone wrong.

"Good job Juvia, it was an amazing performance." Erza-san patted Juvia's back. "I won't lose next year!" Erza-san…Thank You!

"Yes!"

"And now! For the winner. Please give a round of applause to…Wendy Marvel!" People down the stage started to cheer and whistle as the spotlights graced the overwhelmed girl's head. "Wendy, what are your thoughts?"

"Ehhh! Ermm…umm…T—thank You very much!" Wendy-san did a steep bow at the crowds.

"Now I have an announcement to make! The next event will be 'Battle of Fairy Tail'! If you'd like to attend, please follow the signs that we have placed throughout the city. Feel free to ask our guild members or the Saber Tooth guild members for directions. The exhibition match between Natsu Dragneel and Saber Tooth's Master: Sting Eucliffe will start at two! Until then I hope you enjoy the festival!" Doesn't Natsu have to participate in the tournament as well? Then why is he doing an exhibition match? What if he gets tired in the actual tournament? Then his training will be wasted!

"Good job Juvia! You got second place this year. Congratulations!" Natsu was leaning over the stage.

"Natsu! Why are you in the exhibition match?"

"Let's talk while we get some lunch! I'm sure you're hungry right?"

"Aye!"

"Wait for Juvia to get changed okay?"

"Hurry up! I'm starving!" When Juvia was done changing, Juvia found Natsu and Happy-san waiting outside.

""Which one of you will be Juvia's prince?"" They both said, striking the same pose as Juvia did. The two of them started to laugh uncontrollably. Juvia's face ignited upon recalling what she did.

"She actually said that! My sides!"

"Aye! But…"

"Yeah, we shouldn't laugh at her like this…pfff." The two kept laughing at Juvia's expense. Juvia wants to die…

"I didn't expect her to go that far! She must've been desperate!" This cat…

"At least Juvia won against Erza-san! Even Natsu hasn't done that yet!"

"That doesn't count!"

"Why doesn't it!? It's just a different type of battle!"

"A—anyway, let's go eat! We'll celebrated your second place, it was a great performance. It's my treat!"

"Natsu…"

"Maybe we'll find your prince at a restaurant." Natsu snickered.

"Natsu! Don't ruin the moment!"

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just go find some food…"

"Natsu." Happy-san tugged on Natsu's scarf.

"What is it?"

"You really are stupid."

"Say that again! I dare you!"

"So, why are you in an exhibition match?" We were sitting at a restaurant, Juvia finished her meal, Happy-san was playing with a fish bone. And Natsu was, still eating, a lot.

"I wanted to warm-up before I do the real thing, so I volunteered." Natsu slurped down some soup.

"But it's Sting-san you're up against!"

"That's why it's warm-up, it won't be one if my opponent is weak"

"Who are you against in the first round?"

"Elfman."

"Who else is in the tournament?"

"Gray, Freed, Bickslow, Gajeel…"

"Sting and Rogue." Happy-san finished.

"Oh yeah! Rogue and Sting will also be there!"

"But there're from Saber Tooth!?"

"Not enough people joined. I heard that most people didn't join because there were too many strong people."

"How did you find that out?" Natsu pointed to his ears. "Juvia understands, but can you blame them? Who wants to fight against a bunch of battle maniacs?"

"I guess." Natsu finished his meal. "That was great!"

"Juvia wants to make sure, you are paying right?" Juvia saw the pile of emptied plates and started to get worried.

"Leave it on me! You can go ahead, we'll meet back up at the arena!"

"See you later then, Natsu and Happy-san."

"Aye!" "See ya!"

With still an hour left, Juvia checked out the festival. The streets weren't as crowded as in the morning. Maybe because people are still having lunch? Juvia wandered around the streets, hopping from store to store, ultimately not buying anything. Perhaps Juvia should look for house decorations and not everyday items. Juvia's room is still plain after all.

Juvia found a booth selling art. This is a good start. The booth had traditional things like paintings, statues, drawings and so. Stuff like patterned rugs, crystal carved into certain shapes were displayed, there was even round stones with runes etched on them.

"Welcome! How may I help you?" A middle-aged man greeted Juvia. "Are you looking for anything in particular?"

"No, Juvia is looking for things to decorate her house."

"I see…Miss, what kind of things does your boyfriend like?"

"B—boyfriend!? Y—you got it wrong! J—Juvia doesn't have a…a b—boyfriend…"

"My apologies! I assumed that a pretty girl like you would have a boyfriend. Then, what kind of things do you like?"

"A painting would be nice."

"I see! Then, please look at this one." The owner held up a painting of two kids playing by a tree. "What do you think?"

"Do you have anything else? Say like a drag—no umm…a horse."

"Of course!" The man grabbed an illustration of a horse eating grass. "Or would you like something more dynamic? If so, you might like this one." He reached underneath his table and pulled out the same horse but galloping through the fields.

"Then, I'll take that one." The owner placed the painting in a bag and handed it to Juvia

"Thank You very much! That'll be a thousand Jewels" Juvia hesitantly paid the man and walked away from the booth, hugging the painting she just got. Why did Juvia buy this? Juvia could've just asked Reedus-san to paint something for Juvia, Juvia did get those paintings of Gray-san from Reedus-san in the first place. And Juvia was about to say dragon…what is wrong with Juvia? He wouldn't have a dragon. Except Acnologia, dragons haven't been spotted for generations. Well, there was those seven dragons that showed up...

Juvia continued wandering around town for a good while. Juvia doesn't know how but, it was long enough for Juvia to put the painting back in her room, come back to the festival, and walk for roughly half-an-hour.

"Mama! Hurry up! The semi-finals are about to start!" Semi-finals? Could it be?

"Don't worry, the arena isn't going anywhere!" Guilt ran through Juvia's body, mainly her legs. Juvia ran as fast as she could push herself, hoping Juvia would make it in time. Sorry Natsu, Juvia said that Juvia will be there. Please make it on time!

Juvia's legs were abused, her heart was begging for mercy but, Juvia has made it! It seems that the first match in the semi-finals was Natsu's match. He was about to go up a few steps to the arena. Juvia can only see the tips of his wild pink hair but, that's Natsu without a doubt! Juvia pushed past the crowd to get a closer look. He was about to get on the arena. So Juvia did the only thing in Juvia's mind.

"Natsuuu! Good luck!" Juvia shouted with all her might, even that seems quiet in the chanting of Natsu's name. He turned to Juvia's direction and put on the smile Juvia has been so many times before.

"Juvia? Why were you so late? Never mind, you can tell me later, let's get to our seats reserved for members." A hand with a pink guild mark on it pulled Juvia out of the spot she worked so hard to get.

"Lucy-san!? Why are you here?"

"To cheer Gray on of course! But…he lost to Sting, it seems like he's been training hard."

"Who else lost?"

"Elfman lost to Natsu, Freed to Gajeel, Bickslow to Rogue."

"Only dragon slayers remain!?"

"I know! I swear, the match making was rigged, Master saw how successful Natsu's fight with Rogue and Sting was, so he tried to re-create it. It worked too! We sold so many tickets"

"So, who is Natsu fighting against?"

"Rogue. We're here." Lucy-san took Juvia to arrays to seats filled with Fairy Tail and Saber Tooth members.

"Thank you."

"Let's sit down." We found two empty seats around the back"Anyway. Juvia, Thank You…"

"Why? What did Juvia do?"

"I know we haven't talked much after…you know…and every time we did, I wanted to say sorry for the pain I caused you. But…I couldn't. I felt so guilty, that I couldn't bring it up."

"Lucy-san, you don't have to apologize to Juvia, Juvia is over it now so you don't—"

"Then at least let me thank you! Gray told me you were supporting the two of us, I was so happy…but I was ashamed that I didn't make the first move. We hurt you, and you forgave us. Not only that but you're now supporting us! I don't…I don't deserve a friend like you!" Tears were streaming down Lucy-san's face.

"Lucy-san, you got it all wrong." Juvia used her magic to get rid of the tears. "Juvia isn't your friend, but your family, and family support each other until to end."

"Juvia…" Lucy-san rushed in and cried on Juvia's shoulders. We sat like this for a while. Natsu and Rogue-san used their strongest magic and clashed, kicking up dust. In the end, Natsu was the only one standing. Next, it was Sting against Gajeel-kun. "Hey Juvia."

"What is it?"

"Me and Gray have been thinking of ways to thank you for a while now…"

"You don't really have—"

"Even family can thank each other, right?" Lucy-san has a cheeky smile. "Anyway, we would like to support you in your love life as well."

"B—but Juvia isn't in a relationship…"

"Y—you aren't!? But rumours about you and Natsu are all over the guild you know?"

"Ehhh!? Is that true?" When did this happen? Juvia and Natsu, together!?

"Isn't the job you two when on an excuse to go on a date while keeping things a secret?"

"N—No! Juvia needed to pay her rent and…and the jobs at the time were all boring. So Juvia went with Natsu..."

"So that's how it is. Sorry for getting things wrong. But, are you really not interested in anyone at all?"

"N—no!"

"I see. Well, tell me when you're ready and we will help with everything we got!"

"Juvia just said she isn't interested in anyone!"

"You're not fooling anyone with all the jittering you've been doing. Also, your face is all red. Wait, I take that back, you can definitely fool Natsu, even with that face."

"Is that so…" Juvia sighed after hearing what Lucy-san said.

"I see…" Lucy-san looked at the resting Natsu, then at Juvia, then at Natsu again, finally stopping at Juvia.

"It isn't what you think!"

"I know, it's still not there yet." Lucy-san gave Juvia a knowing smile. "When you find someone you like, let me know okay? See you Juvia, thank you for letting me get this off my chest." Lucy-san left and joined Levy-san in cheering Gajeel-kun on. Juvia should cheer for him too.

Gajeel-kun was in close-quarter combat with Sting-san, exchanging blows. Gajeel-kun was pulling out on top thanks to his hardened body. Magic was soon added to the mix, allowing Sting-san to get in some good hits on the stomach, head and back. The back and forth continued until:

"Gajeel-san, shall we end this?"

"Gi hi! Thought you would never ask."

"Since we need to save our strength against Natsu-san, let's finish this in one go."

"You asked for it!"

"White Dragon's…"

"Iron Dragon's…"

""Roar!"" Extremely destructive magic left the two's mouths, colliding into a splash of silver, not moving for a second, then, pushing Sting's breath backwards and exploding on him. Taking too much damage, Sting-san forfeits. With Sting-san taken out, Gajeel-kun raised a fist in the air and looked at Natsu.

"Salamander, you're next."

"Bring it!"

Now on a short break, Juvia was talking with her guild mates. We were sitting in a circle, guys of the left, girls on the right, save the couples, they sat together.

"So, let's get this bet started." Cana-san got out two hats. "The brown one is for Natsu, the black one for Gajeel. Now, make your bets, who do you think will win? Vote with your wallet."

Overall, the bets were pretty even, only slightly favouring Natsu. Juvia placed her money on Natsu and Lucy-san betted of Gajeel. We both decided to split the money won between us—we did it without telling anyone of course. "Alright, anyone else? If not, I'm closing it." No one responded. "Okay! Bet closed! The match is starting."

Natsu and Gajeel-kun stood stoically on the arena, not knowing of the bet we made. The moment the signal to start went off, the two rushed at each other and punched their respective faces.

"Doesn't hurt…try harder."

"Gi hi…don't lie, I got you pretty good."

"I said, it doesn't hurt!" Natsu kicked Gajeel backwards and followed it up with a fireball to the chest. "How's that?"

"Doesn't hurt."

"Liar!" The two clashed again, throwing magic at each other without a single thought besides winning. Thankfully, Master set up a strong barrier in case things get out of hand. Without the barrier, Fairy Tail might've been disbanded from causing mass destruction and injuring civilians.

It was now sunset; the tournament is running twenty minutes over-time. Both Natsu and Gajeel-kun looking exhausted. Sweat ran down Natsu's body, bruises everywhere. Gajeel-kun didn't wasn't doing too well either. Minor burns were on his body, panting heavily.

"You really are one tough bastard Salamander."

"Same to you."

"But I'm gonna win this!" "You're going down!"

"Fire Dragon's…"

"Iron Dragon's…"

""Roar!"" Streams of magic rushed out of their mouth, barely keeping form, wavering at times. Before they touched, it fizzled out. Two unconscious dragon slayer laid out the ground. It ended in a draw, so the money went back to everyone without loss.

You did great Natsu, it was an amazing fight, let's both try harder next year. We'll take the top, the two of us!

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 **Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! Bit of a slower chapter this time. However, I think I managed to further Juvia's feelings a bit more than usual, it shouldn't take long for the big realisation.**

 **Sorry for cutting the fights short, but it's like with the other contest appeals, I didn't think that the fights were important for the story. Speaking of which, mind telling me which appeal I described the best? I want to know what parts I did good or not.**

 **I have decided before the ending of the story, I will update and make changes to the story according to your feedback. Unless the chapter is super bad, I will change the chapters nearing the end of this story.**

 **Thanks for the support! I am hoping for some great feedback!**


	12. Chapter 12: Fantasia Parade

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

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The sky has turned a mysterious purple, changing to black as we all stood at the guild hall, waiting for Master's instructions. Everyone was excited, the first Fantasia Parade in seven years, we rehearsed a lot more than last time. Juvia is partnered with Gray-san again, much to the complaining of Lucy-san. Since Wendy-san won the contest, most us agreed to have Wendy-san lead the parade. Which is frightening the poor girl, she was shaking and hyperventilating with Carla-san giving words of encouragement.

"What should I do Carla, what if I trip and ruin the parade for everyone?"

"Wendy! You should have more confidence in yourself. You were lovely this morning, you can do it again."

"But…what if that if a fluke? I maybe got—"

"There's no way you can win Miss Fairy Tail with luck, the competition is too fierce." Erza-san placed a reassuring hand on Wendy-san's shoulders. "It was a great performance and you be proud of it."

"Erza-san…Thank You! I will do my best!"

"Good. Don't forget, we will all be there for you."

"Yes!"

"Alright you brats!" Master's echoing voice silenced the chatting of the guild. "I already went through this before, this parade is crucial to the festival's success. You don't have to be afraid! The parade will be a success. And it's all thanks to the time you put into practising! We even have help from reliable friends. Be proud of what you've have done! Finally, show them once again, Fairy Tail is the liveliest guild in Earthland!" The guild hall exploded in a cheer of promises, approval and confidence.

When Juvia got to her float it was already night time, all dressed up in another blue dress with a tiara. Gray-san was wearing something that a prince would wear. He got on to our float with nothing on it, save the floor lights.

"Just don't stripe in public, that costume looks expensive, it would be a shame not to use it.

"I know…Mira gave me an earful already."

"Juvia is glad then."

"Say, you want to mix things up?"

"What do you have in mind?" The music band began matching, playing festive music.

"Along with the castle we're supposed to build, do you want to create animals while I make trees and other plants. You know, to make it more lively."

"Juvia thinks that's a lovely idea, let's go with that." Wendy-san's float started moving. She was in the same white tunic as before. Keeping with the aesthetic, the float was decorated with wings. Happy-san, Carla-san, Patherlily-san, Lector-san and Forsch-san acted as Wendy-san's 'Messengers', they are in charge of flying around, handing sweets to kids.

Hearing the cheers from afar was comforting to Juvia, they like it. Next came Erza-san's float. Normally, she would be leading the parade. However, she gave up that role to let Wendy-san get some experience and give her more confidence. Erza-san wearing something she would never wear for battle. It was too flashy and had too many places where the opponent can grapple her. For a parade, it was perfect. Erza-san summoned her swords and made them dance, following the movement of Erza-san's arms and body movements.

"Looks like we're next. Don't slow me down." Gray-san said.

"Don't worry, we've went on many jobs together, you know Juvia won't slow you down." Our float started to move. Juvia created archways, Gray-san froze them and made steps leading to a flat platform. A castle made of water sat on top, which quickly froze to a clear, dazzling structure. The lights, reflected and highlighted the right parts of the castle, making it shine with a bright glow.

Juvia summoned birds that took to the skies. Once Gray-san made trees for them. They nested on the branches.

"Let's finish this with a bang. Juvia, summon something big!"

"Yes!" The first thing that came to mind that fits with the castle was a guardian. Adding the books she read as a child, there was only one thing that could work. It might be in bad taste due to the recent events, but here goes…

Juvia created a large scaly body standing on top of the castle, a pair of massive wings, a strong tail and finally, a head of a dragon. It flapped it's wings twice before Gray-san froze it. To top it off, Gray-san rained thousands of coins, crowns, jewellery down, accumulating in a pile at the castle foot.

"The dragon was a great idea!" Gray-san said, waving to the crowd. Juvia did the same, wearing a satisfied smile.

"Juvia must thank you for adapting to her choices."

"No, it made perfect sense."

"Then Juvia is glad, Juvia thought is made be bad to make a dragon considering what happened at the games."

"Just think of it as a tribute to us fending off dragons."

"That's true."

"Though it was mainly the dragon slayers that did the work."

"Everyone did their part."

"I guess…" The Fantasia Parade was a huge success, we had requests to make next one just as or better than this year's. But more importantly, everyone had fun. Juvia didn't see anything that could be taken as a frown. Juvia heard that Saber Tooth's twin dragon float was really popular with the teens and children. Master even considered asking for other guilds for help next time.

After the festival was over and everyone else went back home, Fariy Tail and guests were still celebrating. It was a special day, so there were more drunk people than usual. Juvia was sitting with her friends drinking a small amount of wine, not wanting to repeat what happened last time.

"But still, Wendy did great!" Cana-san said, chugging what seems to be her tenth bottle of whisky.

"T—that's not true! I just…"

"Don't be so modest! You made a great debut." Lisanna-san intercepted.

"What I loved was how romantic Juvia's performance was." Levy-san said. Was it really that romantic? Juvia just put what was on her mind into the performance, the forest Juvia went to with Natsu.

"Speaking of which…" Cana-san wrapped her arm around Juvia. "Which one did you hope to be your prince hmmm?" Juvia's mind blanked out. An image formed in her mind. But Juvia shook it off before any defining feature came out.

"No—no one! Juvia isn't in love with anyone!"

"Are you suuure about that?" Cana-san continued her attack, adding her fingers as well, poking at Juvia's cheeks, which is turning red.

"I think I have a good idea on who is it." Lucy-san! Don't make misunderstandings!

"Really! Who is it!?" Cana-san switched her target to someone with a looser mouth.

"But…Juvia isn't ready to tell us tell, so it's still a hunch."

"It doesn't matter, hurry up and tell me!" Lucy-san, please don't do it! Juvia is begging you!

"No way! I worked so hard to be on good terms with Juvia, I'm not throwing it away my hard work." Lucy-san, Thank You. "But, I'm pretty sure you can figure it out yourself, a girl in love is pretty easy to read." Don't provoke them!

"Juvia really doesn't have anyone! Juvia just…likes being around him…"

"Ermm…how about we change topics…Juvia-san looks uncomfortable…" Wendy-san said.

"Fine! But Juvia, I'll ask you one of these days, and I won't let you get away!"

"P—please give Juvia a break!"

"A—anyway, Bisca-san why didn't you join in the contest?" Wendy-san saved Juvia again.

"Well, I'm married, and I gave birth, people probably don't want to see a woman like that."

"Is that how it is? But Bisca-san is pretty…"

"Wendy, you'll know when you're older."

"Don't treat me like a kid!" Wendy-san pouted.

"My bad, my bad."

"Mama…I'm tired…" A little girl was hugging at Bisca-san's leg, head drooping down.

"Okay sweetheart, let's go to sleep then!" Bisca-san picked up the wobbling Asuka-chan in her arms. "Sorry, I'm going to leave early, enjoy the party okay?"

"Good night!"

"You too Wendy-chan, you won't grow if you sleep late you know!"

"I know that! I've been drinking plenty of milk too…"

"Sorry! If fun teasing you like this." Bisca-san walked out of the guild hall after finding her husband.

"A kid huh? If you guys have to get children, how many would you get?" Cana-san asked with a warm expression. "My old man said he wants one grandchild to dote on. He also said it's a way of making up for not taking care of me."

"Juvia think she wants…at least two…" Cana-san smirked. Juvia has been caught!

"So, who is the lucky man?"

"Cana-san lied just for this?"

"Yup! I don't think I can get a boyfriend time soon anyway, he's so protective, every time I'm out with him, he would glare at any guy within three metres of me. Now! Out with it!"

"L—Lucy-san! How many kids will you have?"

"Let's see…I don't have plans for kids but…I say'd one."

"What do you think the child will look like?" Mira-san asked, placing down another round of drinks.

"I—if it's with Gray then…"

"What do you mean 'if'?" Levy-san intercepted.

"Well…it's only been about a month since we started dating, so I don't know if we will stick…"

"Juvia is supporting you. The same with everyone right?"

"Of course!" "Yes!" "Why wouldn't we?" "One-hundred percent!" "Isn't it obvious?"

"Thank You, everyone." Lucy-san's face has a faint pink tint to it. But Juvia isn't sure if it's because of the alcohol, or because of the embarrassment from thinking about her relationship.

All of Juvia's friends has left, she was about to leave too. However, Juvia spotted Natsu sleeping on the floor in a weird angle. Juvia should return the favour, Natsu did help Juvia get back home before. After talking with Mira-san, Juvia leaned Natsu on her shoulders. Heavy…how much food did you eat Natsu? Or is that how much you normally weigh? Perhaps Juvia is just weak? Why is Juvia doing this?

The winds rustled the leaves, it caressed Natsu's hair, cooled Juvia's warm cheeks. Juvia could feel Natsu's breath brushing against Juvia's neck. The moon and stars that shone through the near naked branches and guided Juvia.

"Juvia?" Natsu rubbed his eyes. "Where's Happy?"

"It seems he went back home."

"He didn't tell me." Natsu yawned. "Furry bastard, why didn't he wake me up?"

"Can you walk?"

"Sure." Natsu's weight left Juvia, exposing her left side to the Autumn winds. "Sorry to have you carry me all the way out here."

"No, it's fine, you did the same for me."

"I'm not light like you. Plus, I'm strong, so it didn't matter to me. It must've have been tiring for you right?"

"It's fine."

"If you say so. So, how your second 'Harvest Festival'?"

"It was even better than last time, Juvia had a lot more fun. Juvia spent more time with her friends rather than tail Gray-san."

"I see. I'm glad that you're having fun now, you were a real mess when we found you by the lake."

"Yes…It's all thanks to you, Juvia wouldn't have recovered so quickly if it wasn't for you. Juvia is grateful."

"You don't need to thank me," Natsu placed his hands behind his head. "anyone else would have done the same."

"That may be true but, it was your kindness and silly actions that helped out a lot, no one else could do the same thing you did." Natsu stopped walking

"If you have any other problems, come talk to me, I swear I'll help you anytime." Natsu gave Juvia his signature smile. It seemed different than the other ones Juvia had seen before; more cheerful, more kind, more…perfect. Can Juvia have this moment framed? "Hmm? What's wrong? You had too much to drink?"

"Huh? Why do you ask?"

"I mean, your face is red and you have a weird smile, it's like when Cana is drunk. Do you need me to walk you home?"

"Juvia isn't drunk! Juvia is perfectly fine!"

"That so?"

"Yes!" We continued our walk to Natsu's house.

"Shouldn't you go back home? It's pretty late." Is Natsu trying to get rid of Juvia? Juvia won't let that happen!

"Do you dislike being with me?"

"The opposite, I love hanging out with you!"

"Then why are you telling Juvia to go?"

"I mean, I can walk back home now, you don't have to follow me back. I just don't want to keep you up is all."

"Oh…Juvia thought—"

"In the first place, why would I hate a fun woman like you?" Juvia is fun? The gloomy 'Rain Woman'? "But if you want, you can walk with me until I get home."

"Juvia will do that."

"Why?"

"Juvia…doesn't know…"

"You really are weird."

"Do you hate weird women?"

"Depends, you're cool though." Juvia breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank You."

"You really are being weird."

"Is that bad?" Juvia said, having a faint smile on her face.

"No, I kind of like it."

"Then no complaining."

"Yeah, yeah." A stone house came into view, along with the charming sign Natsu made. "Looks like we're here."

"Yes…"

"Come back another time!" Natsu put on another bright smile. Yep, that smile, really is perfect. His two fangs that sticks out of his teeth line, the noticeable dimples. Juvia's heart is beating from the alcohol, it's a bit delayed but, this isn't too bad.

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 **Thanks for reading! A bit of a shorter chapter this time, still hope you enjoyed it nonetheless.**

 **With this 'arc' ending, I really have no idea where to take this story. Maybe you can give me some suggestions. I'm generally pretty happy with this chapter, but maybe I rushed/make some things revolving around Juvia's love, still trying to get a hang around these things. It is my first love story.**

 **Thanks for the supportive words you guys gave me in the reviews. I look forward for more great feedback!**


	13. Chapter 13: Nanny Juvia

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

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"Sorry for having you take care of our daughter." Bisca-san and Alzack-san bowed, with Asuka-chan holding their hands. "Sweetheart, we're going on a job, nothing too scary but Mama doesn't want to risk it. Can you be a good girl with Mama's friends while we are gone?"

"Yup!"

"Then, Juvia-san, Levy-san, Erza-san, please take care of Asuka-chan for us." Alzack-san said.

"No problem," Levy-san crouched down to Asuka-chan's level. "you two can rest at ease and focus on the job." Asuka-chan walked slowly to Levy-san and hugged her knee.

"…hungry." Asuka-chan patted her stomach, looking hopefully at Levy-san.

"Okay!" Levy-san cradled Asuka-chan in her arms. "Let's have breakfast."

"Sweetheart, wait, didn't you already eat?"

"But, tummy is mad, it hurts…" Asuka-chan's face turned sour and looked like she was holding something in.

"That's a stomachache! Levy, take Asuka-chan to the toilet, quickly!" Erza-san commanded, trying not to make her voice too hard.

"I got it." Levy-san rushed to the nearest toilet in the building.

"We should we do? I'm worried already, Asuka-chan just started to learn how to wipe."

"Bisca-san, don't worry, Juvia and the others in the guild will take care of her. If worse comes to worse, we can ask the members that have experience in taking care of children."

"That's true…well, there's no use worrying about it now. Come on honey, we'll be late for the train." The two walked away from Fairy Hills, taking a glance at us every now, seeing us waved them away.

"Well, for starters, Juvia will change into cloths she doesn't wear anymore. Juvia has never taken care of a child before, so Juvia has no idea how messy it'll get."

"Let's do that." Juvia's day of being a nanny has just begun.

We were sitting in the lounge, watching over Asuka-chan chasing after Juvia's water rabbit, with Erza-san giving advice. Toys were pushed away into a ring, making an arena for the little hunter.

"Left, now right. Wait for it to stop." Asuka-chan did as told, swiping her hands to left, then to the right. Finally, stood there, watching the rabbit come to a slow stop. It sniffed the air for a second, then turned its attention to the ground. "Now!"

"Eiii!" Asuka-chan jumped at the rabbit, catching it off-guard and soon held it in her hands. "Did it!" Asuka-chan's eyes were filled with triumphant joy, not minding the wetting clothes.

"Good job!" Erza-san praised with pride.

"Well, let's get you dry." Juvia pulled away all the water away from Asuka-chan, including the rabbit, resulting in a sad face from the girl's face.

"Bunny?" Asuka-chan groped the air, tears forming on her crestfallen eyes. Juvia made a huge mistake!

"Asuka-chan! Look," Laki-san made a wooden rabbit doll. " turned to wood as a reward, you can now take him home!"

"Bunny!" Askua-chan held the rabbit tightly.

"Thank You Laki-san, that was an oversight on Juvia's part."

"Don't worry about it! My magic can't move like yours can, so I can't do the things you can." Asuka-chan placed down the rabbit and walked over to Juvia.

"What's wrong? Are you hungry?"

"Sleepy…"

"You have been playing for a while now." Juvia took Asuka-chan in Juvia's arms. "It's time for a nap." Juvia stroked Asuka-chan's hair like how she did with Natsu and sang the same lullaby. Soon, the small girl was lulled to sleep. "Juvia is going to take Asuka-chan to Juvia's room."

"Okay, we'll clean up the toys." Levy-san provided. Juvia opened the door to her room, making sure Asuka-chan won't fall. The wrapped painting was still leaning against Juvia's couch, untouched since she brought it home. Juvia nestled Asuka-chan on Juvia's bed and pulled the covers over he, tucking her in snuggly.

"Rest well, we don't want you collapsing while you're playing after all." Juvia whispered. "Juvia will make you some lunch once you wake up okay?"

"Mama…" Asuka-chan muttered.

"Mama isn't still here but, we're here for you. So, sleep tight." Once Juvia softly closed the door to her room, Juvia went back to her friends who was still tidying up.

"That was quick!" Levy-san said, picking up the rabbit doll Laki-san made. "What do we so with this?"

"I guess we can give it back to her once she wakes up." Erza-san said, hands placed under her chin.

"Speaking of when Asuka-chan wakes up, Juvia plans to cook lunch for her, does she have any food that she doesn't eat?"

"Ermm…Bisca-san said that Asuka-chan doesn't like eating carrots and onions. Maybe we should change that." Levy-san provided. The lounge was free of any toys, placed away in a chest that Laki-san made.

"That's true but, what if Asuka-chan hates us because we try to feed her carrots and onions?"

"Juvia, you worry too much."

"But—"

"If you insist, then we just have to cook something that doesn't have carrots or onions."

"I know!" Erza-san began. "Why don't we all cook something and see what she likes more." Erza-san's competitive nature flared up, determined to win no matter what.

"In that case, why don't we call Mira and Lisanna over? We can just eat the leftovers anyway" Levy-san, don't make this a real thing!

"Great idea! I'll call them now." Erza-san materialized a lacrima with her magic. "Hello? Mira, can you hear me?" Mira-san's face popped up from the lacrima.

"I can hear you, Erza, what wrong?"

"Well, Bisca and Alzack left Asuka over, she's sleeping right now. When she wakes up, she must be hungry. So, we decided to have a cooking contest to see whose cooking Asuka likes more."

"My, that sounds like fun!"

"Are you free right now?"

"Yes, I have a day-off, do you want me to bring Lisanna as well?"

"Of course."

"Then, we'll be there soon. Bye!"

"Bye." Erza-san's fighting spirit double, or even tripled. "There you have it, we'll see which dish will Asuka like more."

"Juvia still isn't sure about this…"

The doorbell rang while we were sitting in silence, thinking of what to cook. Erza-san got out of her seat and opened the door. Mira-san and Lisanna-san appeared with bags in their hands.

"Good afternoon everyone! Me and Lisanna came, but Elfman said he's passing."

"That's a shame but, the five of us is more than plenty, Laki is also passing."

"I see."

"Anyway, come in, we can chat about it inside."

""Parton the intrusion!"" The two sisters place their bags next to a couch and sat with us.

"Have you decided on what to cook?"

"Yes, I take it that all of you have some idea." All of us but Mira-san—who proposed the question—nodded. "Where's Asuka-chan sleeping?"

"In Juvia's room. Juvia will go check if Asuka-chan is still sleeping." Juvia entered her room quietly. The bundle of cuteness was breathing softly on Juvia's bed, Juvia got close to Asuka-chan, brushed away the strays stands of hair on her face, resulting in Asuka-chan grabbing onto Juvia's hand.

"Mama…papa…" After confirming that she is still sleeping, Juvia gently pried the little fingers and went back to the others in the lounge.

"Asuka-chan is still sleeping, Juvia thinks that once we finished cooking, she will be awake." Mira-san clasped her hands together.

"Then, let's all the started, we brought along some vegatbles from our garden, everything taste better fresh right?"

"Mira-nee is right, we should start now."

"Remember, one dish each." Erza-san reminded. We all went our seperate ways to the kitchen in our rooms save the Strauss sisters and Erza-san, they borrowed the main kitchen in Fairy Hills. To be honest, Juvia hasn't figured out what to cook yet. Soups and stews are out of the question, Juvia doesn't have enough time for that. So, Juvia laid out all of her ingredents out on a table. After staring at food for the next five minutes, Juvia has finally chose her dish: White sauce spagetti with grilled chicken, with some vegetables on it of course. Juvia put on an apron and got to work.

Juvia forgot about one thing, Asuka-chan is in Juvia's part of the house.

After completing the finishing touches, Juvia felt a tug on Juvia's apron. Juvia found two purple eyes looking at her, filled with expectation and want. Dangerously cute!

"Sorry, did Juvia wake you up?"

"Onee-chan…hungry…" Juvia patted Asuka-chan's head.

"Juvia's got it, let's go to the dining hall and wait for everyone, they all cooked something for you." Asuka-chan's eye lit up and nodded vigorously. Juvia grabbed her creation with one hand and Asuka-chan's hand with the other. "Let's go!"

When we got to the hall, no one else was there, Asuka-chan looked around, curious eyes scanned the room.

"Ever…y…one?"

"They will come later, they have to cook for you."

"Thanks for waiting!" Lisanna walked out of the kitchen holding a plate of fried shrimp, tartar sauce and a few cherritomatos. Mira-san was holding a plate of colourful muffins and cupcakes. The smell of baked goods entered the room. "Asuka-chan! You're already awake?"

"Yup!" Asuka-chan said, bouncing up and down, trying to see what smelt so nice.

"Sorry Asuka-chan," Mira-san put down her plate. "We have to wait for everyone else."

"Yes…" Asuka-chan had a crestfallen face, one that understands but still doesn't accept that facts. Mira-san picked out a muffin from the pyramid of food and handed it to the sad girl.

"Don't tell everyone else okay?"

"Okay!" Asuka-chan said with a bright smile.

"Mira-nee, you shouldn't spoil her like that."

"But Lisanna, look." Mira-san turned the eating girl for Lisanna-san to see. A blissful face taking tiny bites out of the muffin, not caring of the cream and sprinkles that was scattered all over her cheek.

"That's not fair!" Lisanna-san whined. Juvia nodded at the cuteness of the girl. "Asuka-chan, you have cream on you, hold still." Lisanna-san used a napkin to wipe away the mess once Asuka-chan was done with the muffin.

"Seeeee Lisanna, it's not that easy." Mira-san teased.

"Alright, fine!"

"Sorry for the wait!" Levy-san along with Erza-san walked into the hall. Levy-san has a bowl of chicken salad, while Erza-san was holding a plate of riceballs. "Let's have lunch Asuka-chan!"

"Yay!" We took turns in giving Asuka-chan our cooking, to which she happily chewed on all of them.

"That's great, it seems like she like all of them." Mira-san said. Erza-san went to Asuka-chan.

"Well, which one do you like the most?" Asuka-chan's face turned confused, swaying side to side with a half-eaten cupcake in her hands. Taking a few more bites, Asuka-chan's face turned troubled.

"Don't…know." Asuka-chan said slowly, finishing the last bits of the cupcake.

"This is why Juvia isn't sure about this, you can't have a child pick favourites when everything is good. It's like asking someone who they like more, the mother or the father."

"Well, let's eat the leftovers." Levy-san said. While we were sampling eachother's food, we gave compliments. Soon, all the food was gone. Asuka-chan was hugging the rabbit doll as she waited for us to finish.

"We play…outside?" Asuka-chan hopped off the chair, leaving the doll behind, already heading towards the door. "Please?"

"Ahh, Mira-nee, Levy-chan and I will clean the dishes, go ahead first." Upon opening the door, Asuka-chan dashed out, giggling and jumping. We followed after the child, knowing no danger is outside the building. Reaching outside, we found Asuka-chan trying to catch dead leaves falling down. Once she got bored of that, she ran down the path she came from. We chased after the girl.

Now in the forest, Asuka-chan was kicking the piles of leaves that piled up, grabbing a handful and tossing them in the air, giggling as they fell down. This reminded Juvia of when she would do the same, but in the rain instead. The wet leaves would clump together, so they don't have the same scattering effect as they have now.

"Kitty!" Asuka-chan spotted a blue cat holding a fishing pole by a river and ran towards it. What is Happy-san doing by the river? And where is Natsu? Did they have another falling out? Asuka-chan jumped at the unsuspecting cat, taking him down and along with his fishing pole.

"Ehh Asuka? What are you doing here?"

"She was playing with leaves until she spotted you." Juvia provided, picking up the fallen fishing pole and giving it back to the contricted cat.

"I see."

"By the way, where is Natsu? Aren't you usally with him Happy?" Erza-san asked.

"That jerk ate all the fish!"

"Jerk?" Asuka-chan innocently looked at Happy-san for explainations.

"Look at what you taught her!" Erza-san scolded. "Listen Asuka, you mustn't say that word, it's rude to others."

"Okay!"

"Happy? Where did ya go? There you are!" Natsu came wandering, back supporting a massive fish. "Ohhh! Juvia, and even Erza! What are you guys doing here?" Natsu placed down the fish by Happy-san. Natsu turned away while saying "I'm sorry for eating the fish…"

" !" Asuka-chan hugged Natsu's leg.

"Asuka? Where's your mom?"

"Mama papa is away."

"So we are taking care of her until they come back." Erza-san explained.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Asuka was playing here, when she spotted Happy."

"Aye!" Happy-san said, mouth full of fish.

"So that's what happened."

"I want to go on…uhh…back!" Asuka-chan said, pointing at Natsu's shoulders. Natsu picked her up and gave Asuka-chan a ride.

"This good enough?"

"Yup!"

"By the way Erza, gramps was looking for you."

"I see. Asuka, be a good girl while I'm away. If Natsu does anything bad, tell Juvia to punish him."

"Hey!"

"Pun…ish?"

"Err…it means teach someone not to do something."

"Got it! Ju…via will pun…ish ."

"Good, I'll see you later."

"Bye bye!" Asuka-chan waved Erza-san off as her knightly figure slowly became a black dot.

"What now?" Happy-san asked.

"Juvia thinks we should play until Bisca-san and Alzack-san gets back. Or at least until it gets dark."

"Play!" Asuka-chan grabbed onto Natsu's hair and pulled.

"Alright! Alright, we'll play."

"Yay!"

Asuka-chan chased Happy-san around for a while, her stamina when fully rested is impressive, managing to tire Happy-san out. They both were taking a nap leaning against each other. Natsu was eating a fish he caught while the two was playing. Why is he such a glutton?

"Juvia."

"What is it?"

"What do think about kids?"

"Why bring this up so suddenly?" Is he? No way, Natsu won't do that.

"Asuka reminded me of training with Igneel, when I was a brat."

"To be honest, Natsu still is a brat."

"Hey!"

"But in a good way, you're simple, easy to read, goofy—" Juvia felt her smile get bigger and as she continued to list off Natsu's traits.

"None of them are good!" Asuka-chan stirred slightly.

"Shhh…you'll wake up Asuka-chan."

"Sorry…"

"If you would let Juvia finish, Juvia was about to say that Juvia likes that childish side of you, it's very fun to be around."

"I see…" Natsu's became hard to read for once, it was deep in thought, but Juvia can't tell is he thinking. This mysterious side of Natsu is something Juvia only saw a few times. Each time a thing would pop in Juvia's mind: He looks cool.

"Natsu, what do you think of kids."

"To be honest, at the start, I thought them to be a hassle. When me and Lisanna was still taking care of Happy together, we would play house, I would be the dad, she will be the mom and Happy our child." Juvia feels the urge to blast Natsu, but she kept it under control. Lisanna-san huh?

"A—and then?"

"It was a huge pain in the ass, Happy got hungry all the time, pooped a lot and fussed around. But now, I like kids. You see me and Happy right now, and I everytime I think about it, I don't regret a single moment of raising Happy. If I could, I want to get another kid, this time, I won't raise him or her to be annoying like Happy."

"With Lisanna-san?"

"No." Juvia felt relieved. "It was just us playing around." Natsu picked Asuka-chan up into his arms. "I would feel sorry for my kid for having to put up with me." Natsu rocked Asuka-chan, bringing her close to his chest everytime she shivered.

"Juvia doesn't think so, Juvia thinks you would be a lovely father." Looking at Natsu's father-like figure, paying attention to Asuka-chan's every needs and satisfitying them before she even voiced them by action. Natsu really will be a good father, Juvia is sure of it. What about Juvia then?

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Yeah, this chapter was a bit weak, but I really tried my best to make it good. This is the best out of all the versions I have.**

 **Sorry for the cliche and lame excuses to have Juvia and Natsu to be alone. However, I needed Juvia to learn of Natsu's stance on having children.**

 **Again, I'm welcoming ideas on chapters. The next one should be fun! But pretty much 100% fanservice(sticking true to the source.). You guys might be able to figure out what it is, I did allude to it in a previous chapter.**

 **Sorry LordTicky, you might not like the next chapter, I'll try to make it bearable.**

 **Thanks for your support as always, I hope for your feedback!**


	14. Chapter 14: A Week of Shame

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

 **Natsu is a bit ooc at the start.**

* * *

How embarrassing. In Natsu's house, Juvia stood in front of Natsu, exposing her bare thighs and wearing the most humiliating thing in her life. Why did Juvia have to lose that race?

"What am I?" Natsu cheekily asked, folding his arms.

"Juvia's…Master…" Steam was coming off Juvia's head.

"What do you call me?"

"Natsu-sama…"

"Good…" Natsu-sama walked closer. "Now, turn around." Juvia did as told. "But still, you look amazing."

"D—don't look…so much…Juvia will go crazy." Natsu-sama leaned in close to Juvia's ear.

"I'm fine with that." Natsu-sama whispered. Silence dominated the room for a while as Natsu-sama's eyes took in Juvia's body. Juvia can't take this anymore!

"P—please, give it to Juvia."

"You'll have to be more specific than that. Or it might just go away" Natsu-sama teased.

"P—please…"

"Well? Your master's waiting."

"Please give Juvia her clothes back! Juvia doesn't look good in this maid outfit at all!" Yes, Juvia is wearing the frilliest and the most revealing outfit she had ever worn—not including a swimsuit of course. Juvia was wearing a small black shoes and midnight socks that didn't even touched her knees. Adding the black-white that was too short near the end, Juvia's legs were almost completely exposed! A white apron completed the main look. But the humiliation didn't stop there. The maid outfit had short sleeves, forcing her to show even more skin. Juvia can't even wear a hat, only a frilly headpiece.

"What are you talking about? You look so cute!" Natsu-sama grinned. Juvia stopped functioning for a second, sighed and place her hands together in the classic maid pose.

"But who would've thought that Natsu-sama can be such a pervert…" Juvia said, tugging at the ends of her dress.

"Blame Gildarts, he told too many things to a twelve-year-old. I only think about these kinds of things a few times a year though."

"For reference, may Juvia ask at what times of the year?"

"Today is one of them!"

"No fair…" Natsu-sama patted Juvia's head, drawing more steam out of Juvia's head.

"Even I have secrets I don't want to tell people."

"Is Juvia's punishment over?"

"Nope!" A flash captured Juvia's body. Did he Just?

"N—Natsu-sama d—did you just?"

"Yup! I took a picture!"

"W—why?"

"It's a shame that only I get to see this right? Happy isn't here."

"Juvia would rather die than have other people see her like this!"

"So you just want to be my maid and no one elses?"

"T—that's…" Juvia started to squirm in place. "Kind of true…" Juvia muttered the last bit out, forgetting about Natsu-sama's enhanced hearing.

"And you call me the pervert." Juvia looked down in shame. "Well, let's continue."

"What do you—"

"You're my maid, right? Get me some tea."

"C—certainly…" Natsu broke into a roar of laughter. "Master!? What's wrong? D—did Juvia do something wrong? Juvia will fix it up right now." For some reason, that made Natsu-sama laugh even harder.

"Sorry, sorry!" Natsu-sama stifled his laughs. "It's just, you fit the role perfectly!" Natsu-sama lost control and rolled on the floor possessed by another hysteria attack, leaving Juvia a pile of blushing mess.

"J—Juvia will prepare you your t—tea right now."

"Please do…pfft!" Natsu-sama was pounding on the floor now…

Now in the kitchen, Juvia finally had time to recollect herself. The kettle was being heated as Juvia thought about what just happened. Somehow, the kettle transferred the heat to Juvia's cheeks. Juvia cupped them with her hands, hoping they would stop. They didn't. Hearing the distinct sound of the kettle singing, Juvia turned off the fire lacrima. Juvia weighted out the right amount of tea leaves and placed them into tea pot. After pouring in the water into the pot, Juvia heated the cups with the boiling water. Now, Juvia hummed and waited for the tea to brew.

Once the tea had finished brewing, Juvia poured away the hot water from the cup and replace it with her proudly brewed tea. Placing the cup and tea pot on a tray, Juvia grabbed a saucer, some tea snacks, sugar and left the kitchen. Time to impress the master!

Juvia found Natsu-sama sitting on a chair with a counter next it.

"Thanks for the patience Master, here is some Assam black tea, would you like some sugar?"

"N—no thanks." Natsu-sama is stunned by Juvia's skill? Huge success!

"Certainly." Juvia placed the cup on the saucer and placed it on to the counter.

"Thanks!"

"Here's some tea snacks for Master to savor. Well then, take your time and enjoy." Juvia did a small bow.

"Juvia…"

"Yes?"

"You really like being a maid, don't you?" Natsu-sama was trying his best not to laugh again.

"N—no! Juvia doesn't enjoy this in the slightest!" Juvia turned away from Natsu-sama. Juvia must never make eye contact with him or else her cover will be blown.

"I—I see…then, clean the toilet for me."

"As you wish." Juvia skipped towards her cleaning supplies and headed upstairs.

* * *

Come to think of it, Juvia hasn't been to Natsu-sama's bathroom since last time she was here, it was really filthy back then, has it gotten any better now? J After opening the brown bathroom door, Juiva saw a rather small room with white tiles, a sink and mirror, toilet and a bath. Only one problem, the room was so messy! Does Natsu-sama never clean the bathroom in here? It's not Juiva's business to ask sadly, her only duty is to clean all this filth. With Juiva's magic, quick work was done to the dust and grime that was built up over the years, leaving it shiny like a new bathroom.

The mirror was polished, giving Juiva a full-body view of her new attire. It really is embarrassing…but a bit cute…making sure no one was looking, Juiva did some posing in front of the mirror. Juiva placed her hands at her chest, forming a heart. Then instead of letting her hair flow, Juiva tied her hair into a pony-tail. "I—is this to your liking? M—master? Or would you like something else?"

"What are you doing?" Juiva shrieked at the new voice that came from the doorway.

"N—N—Natsu-sama!? Why are y—you h—here!?"

"I was checking on you."

"W—weren't you enjoying the tea Juiva made you?"

"I already finished it. It was delicious by the way."

"T—thank You…"

"So, what were you doing?"

"J—Juiva was posing to see what type of hairstyle you would like." Juiva replied, shifting back and forth and avoiding eye contact.

"You really like being a maid huh?"

"Hwauuu…" Natsu-sama reached behind Juiva's head and pulled away the band that was holding her hair together.

"Just stay the same." Natsu-sama showed Juiva a toothy grin.

"Y—yes…" That was day one of Juiva's junishment, six days left.

* * *

Juvia got up earlier than she normally would, she does have extra duites for a week afterall. It was five in the morning, the sky was hazy and dark. Out on the road leading to Fairy Hills, street lights still emitted an orange glow. Juvia quickly finished her morning rituals and headed to Natsu-sama's house.

Juvia slipped on her uniform once she arrived at her destination, judging from the soft groans upstairs, he's still sleeping. Time to start cleaning. Juvia first swept away all the leaves around the house, then she cleaned the house that she couldn't yesterday. It's now an hour or so until Natsu-sama wakes up, more than enough time to fix him breakfast. Opening the fridge door, Juvia was disppointed at the lack of varity in ingredents that he stores, a good portion of the fridge was dedicated to fish, the rest was Lisanna-san and Mira-san's gardening results. Dealing with what Juvia's got, Juvia turned on the stove

Juvia knocked on the door to Natsu-sama's room, no response, he's still sleeping. Pushing open the door, Juvia saw the sleeping dragon slayer on his hammock.

"It's time to wake up master." Juvia shoved his shoulders roughly, knowing shaking it won't help from her previous attempts. His grumbled in displeasure, turning to face away from Juvia. "The food will get cold, please get up."

"Food?" Natsu-sama turned back facing Juvia, drool escaping his mouth.

"Yes, Juvia has worked hard to cook breakfast, please don't waste Juvia's efforts and get up."

"Fine…" Natsu-sama rolled out of the hammock, slamming his face on the floor. That looked painful, is he alright?

"Natsu-sama!? Are you hurt?"

"No, I feel much better." He said while picking himself up, showing the mark the floor left on his head.

"That doesn't seem to be the case!?"

"It's fine, don't worry too much. Anyway, you said something about food?"

"Yes, Juvia prepared a lot of it as well."

"Really!? Let's go then!" Natsu-sama jumped out of his room with vigor that hasn't been displayed since Juvia tried to wake him up. When Juvia caught up to her engertic master, she found that he was already holding a knife and fork, hands moving at speeds that was hard to follow. One by one, the food that Juvia cooked was sent to Natsu-sama's mouth. He didn't seem to be keen on cleaning the plate however, only taking the majority of the food and leaving behind a small percentage of it. It that for Juvia? Natsu-sama's hands stopped.

"I—is there something wrong?"

"Aren't you going to eat Juvia? The food you cooked is great!"

"Thank You for your praises but, Juvia has already eaten breakfast before she got here. So please, don't hold back and enjoy."

"Thanks!" Natsu-sama continued his feeding frenzy, picking back up the food he left on purpose. Plates were being emptied in quick succession, to the point where Juvia is worrying that she didn't cook enough food. Juvia's worries were subsided once she saw a satisfied face from Natsu-sama. To which, Juvia started to pick up the plates.

"How was the meal master? Was it to your liking?"

"Of course!"

"Juvia is glad then."

"Let's go out then."

"N—now!?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"C—can Juvia at least change first? Or let Juvia stay inside and wait for your return." Juvia will die of embarrassment if she walks out like this.

"Why? You look good in it?"

"That's not the problem! Although…Juvia is happy that you think that way…"

"Come onnn! I wanna show Mira."

"Absolutely not! Mira-san already caused so much problems for the photo Natsu-sama took last time! Juvia won't go through that shame again!"

"Alright fine, you can stay here until I come back."

"Natsu-sama…" Juvia is forever grateful!

"But, what will you do if you get bored? You've pretty much done all the chores right?"

"Aside from the laundry, Juvia has done everything."

"Then you'll be bored and lonely. Why don't you come with me?"

"Juvia appreciates Natsu-sama's concerns but, you don't have to worry about Juvia. Juvia was lonely her whole life, so she has many ways to keep herself from being bored."

"Nevermind, you're coming with me, no objections. Just change your clothes, I'll wait for you."

"But—"

"Hurry up, no one deserves to be alone for so long, we need to make up for the lost time." Natsu-sama's kindness is kicking in again, he really is great person…

"Thank You…" Juvia quickly changed back into her old clothes and met up with Natsu-sama that was sitting outside the steps. "Thank You for waiting Natsu-sama."

"You're still keeping the 'sama'?" Natsu-sama raised an eyebrow.

"I—it's a habit!"

"But you've only been calling me that for a day?"

"D—do you h—hate it?"

"No, you said that you wouldn't want to walk out in a maid outfit, but you're fine with calling me that?"

"Don't worry, Juvia will make sure that she won't say it out in the public."

"If you say so." Natsu-sama rose from his seat and walked along his dirt road. "I'm going to kick ice princess's ass today."

"Juvia is supporting you!"

* * *

Natsu-sama jumped on the spot twice and got into position. Natsu then kicked the guild doors open to which Gray-san was behind. Gray-san got slammed into the floor, sliding backwards for a good distance.

"Good morning stripper, I knew I smelled something rotten behind the door." Natsu-sama's hands lit up and charged at the recovering Gray-san. "Today's the day you admit I'm stronger!"

"Not in your life!" Gray-san blocked Natsu-sama's punch with a wall. "It's you who should admit that I'm stronger!" They clashed, using everything at their disposal, arms, legs, heads, magic. Juvia felt someone tap her shoulders.

"Juvia! Why did you come in with Natsu today? Have something to annouce?" It was Lucy-san, in a flash, she already got an arm around Juvia, giving no time to even think about escaping.

"I—it's just a coincidence, Juvia met with Natsu just outside the guild."

"How strange, you're usually earlier than I am, very suspicous." Lucy-san released her grip on Juvia. "Well, I'll wait for you."

"I—it's not like that!" But Lucy-san was already lost in a group of guild members, chatting merrily. Juvia found a bench to sit on, silently rooting for Natsu-sama as he punched Gray-san again. Gray-san was about to retaliate when a gauntlet grabbed onto both Natsu-sama and Gray-san.

"What. Did. I. Say. About. Fighting?" Erza-san's tolerance for violence has hit rock-bottom, her fury alone was enough to chill the rowdy atmosphere in the guild. Erza-san's grip tightened, producing pain and begging from the poor souls. Gray-san, Natsu-sama, Juvia prays for your survival.

A twitching ice mage and dragon slayer laid broken on the floor, mindlessly muttering apologies and asking forgiveness. Juvia really wants to rush over and tend to Natsu-sama's wounds but that will arouse Cana-san and Lucy-san's attention. But Natsu-sama is more important than some public image! While Juvia was arguing with herself, Mira-san took Natsu-sama to the infirmary and Lucy-san got Gray-san. Juvia's indecisiveness made things worse again! Don't worry Natsu-sama, Juvia will nurse you back once we leave!

To make sure Lucy-san and Cana-san won't bother Juvia, Juvia left five minutes earlier than Natsu-sama will. Back in the house, Juvia put back on the uniform and grabbed a first-aid kit. A bandaged Natsu-sama came flopping in the house, vowing for revenge.

"Natsu-sama, Juvia thinks you should rest easy before you pull of more stunts like invading Erza-san's room."

"I'm fine! Like something like this could—"

"Natsu-sama!" Juvia put some weight behind her voice, scaring the injured mage. "Juvia says to rest."

"I…I understand! I won't do anything!"

"Good! Now, let Juvia check your injuries." Juvia took off Natsu-sama's bandages and tried not to stare at his muscles, but the wounds. "These wounds are healing so fast! But Wendy-san is off on a job…"

"It's always been like that, can I go now?"

"No, just because it's healing quickly doesn't mean you don't have to put on bandages." While Juvia was dressing the wound, she couldn't help but feel the firmness of Natsu-sama's muscles "Aaand done! Natsu-sama is good to go!"

"Thanks!" Natsu-sama threw another charming smile at Juvia.

"You're welcome!" Natsu-sama's stomach growled.

"Juvia, I—"

"Already on it!" Juvia was heading to the kitchen. There really isn't a dull moment with Natsu-sama around. But, that's just what Juvia loves!

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Yeah, I really let the pervert in me run wild with this chapter. Sorry to the people that thinks better of me! I can write the rest of the week, but I think that's just excessive. So, I just wrote two days . Unless, you guys want the other days. You know what to do!**

 **Again, really hope that you guys can give me some ideas for chapters, this is my last planned chapter. At the same time, I had lots of fun with this chapter. I'll admit that this chapter doesn't advance the story as much as the other ones. Although, most chapters don't really advance in the first place. I do wish to correct that and start to accelerate Juvia's progress.**

 **Sorry for how I began the chapter by the way! It's one of those thing where I really wanted to try no matter what. I could've gone lewder but, I decided against it. If enough people hate it, I'll try to avoid doing the same thing in future chapters/stories.**

 **Thanks for your kind words down in the reviews, I look forward for your feedback!**


	15. Chapter 15: Absence of You

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

Juvia feels the train rock slightly as she headed to her destination. Outside the window was a forest that look similar to the one Natsu lives in… Only a few stubborn leaves on each branch made up the trees coat, a carpet of orange, red and yellow spread throughout the forest. It'll be winter soon. Sitting by a fireplace is one of the things Juvia looks forward to. Maybe Juvia can hang out in Natsu's house, it's always warm there.

"Juvia? You're spacing out, are you okay?" Levy-san looked at Juvia with concern.

"Juvia is fine…Juvia was just thinking about something."

"Is it important?" Juvia shook her head at the question, it's just Juvia's silly thoughts about Natsu.

"No, it's just Juvia's delusions."

"If you say so." Levy-san pulled out a book from her bag and opened to a page with a metal book mark, Levy-san closed the book; opened it; sighed and closed it again. "Come to think of it, I haven't thanked you properly for coming with me on the job, Jet and Droy ran off and told me to look forward to something. So Thank You, Juvia."

"There is no need to thank Juvia, if anything, Juvia should thank you for helping her get through Gray-san."

"Then we're even I guess."

"By the way Levy-san, while Juvia was spacing out, were you saying anything important?"

"You didn't hear a thing!?"

"Sorry…" Levy-san sighed again.

"Guess there's no choice, listen carefully this time okay?"

"Yes!"

"You know how you job description is about finding a lost family heirloom?"

"The pocket watch, right?"

"Yeah, about that. Master contacted our client that we're coming. The client said that the watch has magical properties."

"To stop time or something like that?"

"No, nothing that powerful, it has the ability to store and re-live memories."

"Re-live as in experience them again?"

"Correct. The owner of the watch said that each house head has the right to store one memory in it, so you can see that this watch a part of their history. Which led me to think that something that valuable is just lost it's—"

"Stolen."

"That's my hypothesis anyway, our client said he'll give us more information once we arrive. Master also said that our client is a duke: the Cardenas. Rumor says that they have a great treasure."

* * *

For the first time in a while, Juvia got out of a train without groaning or cries of victory, it was refreshing but strange at the same time. We were walking along the brick road in a busy looking town, parents were running after their kids, streets full of stores and booths, Juvia saw several people rushing around with bags in hand. Soon the road turn to dirt, with trees plants on each side, leading up a manor. It was a light yellow, dark grey for the tiled roof. In front of the manor, was a fountain of a bear family. Juvia knocked on a maroon door twice and waited. The door was opened by a middle-aged man with nutty hair and chocolate eyes, wearing an expensive brown suit and rimless glasses.

"Are you two perhaps the Fairy Tail wizards that is here to help me?" We showed our guild marks. "Fantastic! Please, come inside, we have lots to talk about." The man led us down a corridor. "I am the head of the family, Lamont Cardenas, you two are?"

"Juvia Lockser." "Levy McGarden."

"Lovely names, now, quickly come inside." Lamont-san opened a door leading to a plain room with nothing but a table and a set of chairs. "Please take a seat." Lamont-san said, sitting down on a chair himself. Once we were seated, Lamont-san began to talk. "Allow me to Thank You for coming all the way to solve my own family business."

"There is no need to thank us just yet Lamont-san," Levy-san replied. "we haven't done anything yet."

"Then I guess I should relay what has happened when I lost our heirloom. Is that fine with you two?"

"No problem."

"It was around three days ago, I was about to retire to bed, when my daughter Loretta came into my room. She called me to our library for a talk. The talk is private matters, so I wouldn't disclose what happened however, I will say that the talk has no correlation with my heirloom.

"When I got back to my room, I found that my room was ransacked. Everything was in disarray, the sheets, carpets, all move to the side or exposed. The drawers and cupboards were in the worst condition, the locks being smashed open. When I searched for my pocket watch, it wasn't there anymore."

"May I ask where do you normally keep it?"

"I have it on me at all times, but when I'm sleeping, I would lock it behind a drawer and take it out when I wake up."

"If it was stolen, why did you list the item as lost?"

"That's something to do with my own foolish pride."

"Then, can you tell us what happened afterwards?" Levy-san as a serious face yet, at the same time, Juvia could see…excitement?

"Of course. I called in my servants and asked them if they have seen anyone walk into my room. They didn't see anyone suspicious enter my room. So I ask my daughter, she was the one that led me out of the room after all, while I don't want to, I believe my daughter is a part of the people that stolen my watch. My daughter feigned ignorance at my questions, only swear to help me find my watch."

"Did you move or clean the room ever since?"

"No, it was my butler that suggested I should sleep in a different room while we wait for help so they have a good idea of the situation."

"Then the room is the left the same way you found it?"

"I guarantee it, I locked the room and checked it every day to make sure the thief didn't come back."

"Can we see the room?" Levy-san's eyes was full of excitement. Perhaps, Levy-san is a fan of these crime scenes? She does read a lot of books, it wouldn't surprise Juvia at all.

"But you two aren't detectives yes? I don't see the—"

"But we can see if there is any residual magic, the sooner a mage looks at it, the better chances that the magic didn't dissipate."

"I see." Lamont-san was deep in thought, his brows were furrowed, stroking his beard as he sat in silence. "I understand, I'll leave it to you."

"Thank You very much!"

"Well then, please follow me." Lamont-san guided us up a flight of stairs and down another corridor and stopped at a door. He opened it and ushered us inside. Like Lamont-san described, the room was a mess, one thing he didn't mention was the open window.

"The window was locked right?"

"Yes, it also has a barrier to prevent mages from getting in." Levy-san put on her glasses and examined the window.

"It seems the barrier was taken down, we are dealing a with a mage, not a very good one as there is lots of mistakes left behind." Levy-san walked around the room, stopping every now and then to check out a dent in the wall, or prints in the carpet. But, she hasn't touched the drawer yet.

"Is there something wrong?"

"There seems to be no other traces of magic. I just need to check the drawer." Levy-san opened the drawer and took a long look inside.

"Well?"

"I just need a few more things before we can go and get your watch back."

"Really!? I'll do whatever I can."

"I first need to speak with your daughter. Then, I want to know some things about your watch."

"She's locked in her room next to the one you are in now."

"Also, tell the servants to look for a short man with black hair."

"How do you know that?"

"Well, right below the window, there was a huge footprint, but the other ones left behind by the man wasn't as deep, so the only thing that makes sense it that he jumped down from the window, into the room. For that you make sense, the person must be short, or else he could have just climbed in. The black hair was just me finding a strand of hair on the floor. Since no one else was in the room, I can assume that the hair belongs to the thief. I can tell the person is a man from his shoes, it's too big for a girl around that height" Levy-san really is amazing, or is that from the books she read?

"Lovely! Now, here are the keys to my daughter's room, I'll notify my servants right away." Lamont-san walked away with haste, Juvia can hear the force of his steps.

"Levy-san."

"What is it?"

"Juvia thinks you have been influenced by your books."

"N—not at all! C—come on Juvia, we need to talk with the daughter." We walked out of the room and moved to a white room, Levy-san opened the door with a nice click and entered inside. A brunette with long hair was sitting on the bed, legs pulled to her chest, from the looks of it, she was crying a lot. Juvia can see the same things that Juvia would do when she cried. Of course, after Natsu cheered Juvia up, she hasn't cried in a while but Juvia still remembers holding a pillow and soaking it with tears and throwing whatever that's in arm's reach to the floor.

"Who…are…you?" Loretta-san's voice was hoarse, every words was labored.

"We are the mages your father has hired to help him."

"I didn't do it!" The girl started screaming, tears flowing down her cheeks, ruining the image of a lovely girl.

"Levy-san, please leave this to Juvia. Wait outside."

"I got it." With the sound of the closing door, Juvia spotted an uneaten meal along with a glass of water.

"Well, for starters please drink some water, your throat must hurt, you have a headache too right?" The girl stopped sobbing, reduced to a sniff every now and then. Juvia got close and started to rub the girl's back once Juvia made sure that the girl has a good grip at the cup. "Loretta-san, Juvia is here to help you, of course, Levy-san as well"

"I didn't do it…"

"Before you start talking, Juvia needs to have you calm down. Juvia knows it hurts to have someone you care about blame you or accuse you. However, it seems that the watch is really important to your father."

"Even more than me?"

"Of course! Juvia is sure that your father cares for you more."

"Then why?" Loretta-san's voice got more unstable.

"Please take a drink, Juvia will wait for you." After seeing Loretta-san take a gulp of water, Juvia felt relieved.

"It seems that your father is blinded by a watch, but once this incident is over, Juvia is sure your father will regret doing this to you."

"You don't think I helped the thief?"

"Why would Juvia think that? Juvia herself has cried more times than anyone in the world, Juvia is sure of that. So Juvia can tell your frustration is real, not an act." Loretta-san seems to have calmed a bit seeing that there is someone she can relate to. "Once Juvia has received help from her friends and one person in particular, Juvia stopped crying. So, treat us as your friends, we'll help you."

"No one else believes me though."

"Then we just have to make them."

"How?"

"If you're innocent, then we just have to catch the thief. So, will you help us?" Loretta-san nodded. "Then, I'll call in Levy-san." She nodded again. "Levy-san! It's okay now." The doors opened, Levy-san came in with a sympathetic look.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Loretta-san nodded again. "Then, can you tell me what you and your father were talking about?"

"A—about me studying abroad. He didn't approve before, but after getting my last test results, I thought I could change his mind—"

"He still didn't approve of it." Levy-san finished. Loretta-san nodded back.

"Worst of all, father a—accused me of taking his watch to get back at him."

"We have a good idea on who the thief is, do you know a man that is short and has black hair?"

"A strange man like that was coming around the manor when father wasn't here, he kept trying to sell us statues."

"That's most likely him, did you buy any of the statues?"

"No, the craftsmanship was poor and anyone that was asking so frequently is too suspicious."

"That's a shame, we might've gotten some clues about the man. Most likely, he was looking at the layout of the manor. Then, did he say where he came from?"

"No, but he said he is staying at an inn in this town."

"Perfect."

"Isn't he gone by now?"

"Depends if he has gotten what he wants."

"Isn't it the watch?"

"No, I think it's what inside the watch. I think that the watch has instructions on how to get your family's treasure."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Another short one, still have no idea how I keep getting ideas. Still looking out for more in the reviews though.**

 **I think it's about time when Juvia starts to get lonely from being away from Natsu, so she will be mentioning him a lot without her even realising it.**

 **Sorry for the ton of dialogue thrown your way this chapter, hopefully it gets fixed in the next one.**

 **I don't have as much to say in this chapter, I hope you enjoyed! I'm always looking for great feedback!**


	16. Chapter 16: Setting Out

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

Juvia was following Levy-san to town, the same friendly vibe reined. We were on our way to have some lunch before going back to the manor to ask some questions from the house head. Juvia saw a kid jumping up and down, whining to a mother in the same way that Natsu would to Juvia when he's hungry. After finding a place to eat, we ordered some food and made an effort to finish the food quickly. Levy-san ate in an educated manner, Natsu would always eat like he's been starving for a week.

Now that we are back in the manor, Levy-san found Lamont-san sitting in a study room, engrossed in a book. So much so that he didn't even noticed the two of us enter his study. Levy-san's eyes was fixated on the book that Lamont-san was holding, they held excitement—almost shining—of finding a long-lost friend.

"That's _The Sound of Silence_ isn't it? It seems that Lamont-san is also a fan of Terry's work!" Levy-san's mouth moved rapidly. "One of my favourite books of his is _Wisdom Tower_! The way he wrote the beginning to build up the atmosphere was pure genius! Of course, the book you're holding has also done a great job but I think it's lacking a bit, also—"

"Levy-san, we're here to discuss—" We need to hurry up and get to business. Although, Levy-san looks so happy.

"You think so too!?" Lamont-san shot back with the same vigor and excitement of finding a fellow reader. "Then, you must have also read Terry's masterpiece: _Murder In The Night_! That book was truly masterfully written! I couldn't put the book down until I finished! Afterwards, I regretted that I didn't savor the work, so I read it a second time, but the magic has already worn off! Levy-san you too must have experienced such tragedies."

"Lamont-san, Juvia and Levy-san are here to—" Please focus! You two can talk about books after the job is done!

"Of course I suffer the same curse! My heart breaks every time I think of it, especially after reading _Dance To Oblivion_ written by Daric Conner!"

"Umm…we're here to—"

"You truly are a woman of culture! My friends think I'm crazy for reading so much, but they are the one that is foolish for neglecting true art!"

"I totally understand! My guild mates tell me to have fun outside instead of being in a library and—"

"Levy-san, Lamont-san, Juvia thinks we have more dire matters to discuss!" Juvia used a lot of force and authority behind the voice, the same one she would use when Natsu gets out of hand. The two instantly froze in fear, nodding at Juvia's statements. "Good. Now, we need to know whether the watch holds knowledge to find your families treasure." Lamont-san looked in pain and sat while massaging his temple with one hand and drummed the desk with the other. Lamont-san sighed and opened his mouth

"It's the truth, that watch can show where our family treasure is. However, that information should only be rumors to the masses, my predecessors and I made a great effort to making it a rumor. Our assets and houses are more modest for a noble, to show signs of poverty."

"Juvia is afraid that there are enough desperate people out there to bet on a rumor."

"Lamont-san, I think that Loretta-san isn't the one to blame," Levy-san said. "we had a talk with her, it seems that her words are genuine. I think that stealing a family treasure just for not studying abroad is a bit too much for revenge."

"So she told you…" Lamont-san cradled his head with his hands.

"Why won't you allow Loretta-san to study abroad? She seems like a capable person to do it."

"I know that!" Lamont-san roared. "I know that better than anyone…she has lots of potential, she's a genius. And staying in Earthland will make her see less of the world, stunting her growth."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"Is it wrong for a father to keep his child close by him?"

"No but—"

"My wife is away on a business trip for a long time now…before she left, I made a promise to protect Loretta, sending her away will compromise that promise. Loretta doesn't know how to defend herself, hiring bodyguards won't be enough."

"Then why don't you just teach her?"

"What can that do for her? She can't use magic, and most crimes are done by wizards."

"But it doesn't seem that she can't use magic, I can sense some faint magic from her."

"That's from her mother, her mother is a wizard after all. However, it's weak, it can't be used to protect herself."

"That can be changed with hard work."

"It's too late to start now…she needs to become a great mage in three months or she will have to wait until next year to apply."

"Then I'll wait a year!" Loretta-san's voice blasted into the room. Lamont-san's face was filled with shock "Father, if I work hard, I can learn magic! Please let me go!"

"You don't understand! Learning magic is harder than you think! You can't just become a mage in a year. You need to have—"

"Have faith in me!" Loretta-san's voice held desperation, tears were forming. "I'm a genius right!? Then I should be able to do it! If I can become a decent mage in a year, then please let me go!" Lamont-san was in deep thought again. It was clear he's suffering.

"I still won't—"

"If Juvia may suggest something, how about Loretta-san comes to Fairy Tail?"

"With you two?"

"Yes! Our guild has lots of people that is capable of teaching magic, many of them are experienced. Also, by taking jobs, Loretta-san can get experience in battle, so she can get used to attacks if they arrive."

"But…"

"I think you should allow it Lamont-san." Levy-san added. "Giving Loretta-san the chance to spread her wings will go a long way in her life, please consider it." Levy-san bowed, Juvia and Loretta-san bowed as well. After a long pause, Lamont-san finally spoke.

"If you can't become a decent mage in time, I won't let you go. I'll cover the living expenses, it's the least I can do as your father. However, the moment you start going on jobs, I'll stop helping you, you need to learn how to become independent." Lamont-san bowed to Juvia and Levy-san "Please take care of my daughter."

"Yes!" "You can count on us!" Loretta-san was speechless, she was crying with a beaming smile.

"Thank You!"

Once the heartwarming atmosphere petered out, we were all seated in a circle holding a business expression.

"So, if the thief is after the treasure, we just need to wait for the thief to come back to take it." Levy-san began. "Then, me and Juvia will take him out and get back your watch."

"I understand." Lamont-san nodded in agreement.

"Can you tell us where the treasure is hidden?"

"I need you two to swear to not tell anyone."

"No problem."

"Then, follow me." Lamont-san got up "Loretta, you come too, it's about time you learn of this."

"Yes." We when outside to the front door of the manor, Lamont-san walked close to the fountain and pushed against a brick at the foot of the fountain. The brick gave way, revealing a stairway downwards to a study-looking door, fortified with a strong magic barrier.

"This is it. Behind the doors is the family treasure, I don't think there is a need to go further than this."

"Thank You very much. The two of you, rest easy, me and Juvia will take care of the rest." All we need to do now, is wait.

* * *

Juvia and Levy-san was hiding in a bush wearing camouflage and a bit of face paint. Since the leaves were falling off most of the foliage, it was a bit harder to blend in. The night sky certainly helped a lot though. It would take someone with abnormal eyesight or smell to spot us out.

"But still, this is pretty well done." Levy-san while inspecting the paint on her arms. "How did you learn how to do this?"

"Errmm…it's a secret." Juvia definitely won't tell Levy-san that Juvia learned how to camouflage just to stalk Natsu.

"Is it something that you can't tell me?"

"Sorry."

"It's fine, we all have—"

"He's coming." A short man was hurrying to the fountain trying to make a less sound as possible. He bent low and groped around for a while. We decided to wait until he's trying to dispel the barrier before we jump on him. Once The thief pushed on a brick, Juvia made a puddle of water behind the thief. As the man made his way down the stairs, we got out of the bush and stealthily made or way to the thief. At the same time, Juvia's water was already touching the man's shoes.

Reaching a good distance, Juvia's water puddle expanded tenfold, engulfing the man's legs, quickly traveling up to his torso. The man frantically kicked and moved, even tried swimming his way out.

"Give up! You're already caught in Juvia's magic." Levy-san used her magic and created a cage of lightning surrounding the man.

"You bitch! Let me out now!" The man's panic turned to anger and directed it to us. His magic swelled, but still weak compared to Juvia's and Levy-san's magic level. The water covered his head and expanded to a dome, slowing suffocating him. His retaliation slowed and headed towards a pathetic stop.

Levy-san restrained the man, making sure to nullify his magic. We took out every single item he had on his body to try and find the pocket watch. After finding the watch with Cardenas symbol on it, Levy-san called in the Rune Knights to send the man in prison.

* * *

"Thank You for getting my watch back," Lamont-san said as he retrieved his heirloom. He pulled out a two cheques with the written amount of the job reward and handed it to the both of us. "here is the reward, please verify the amount."

"No problem." We placed the cheques in our purses. "It was really nice working with you, I found avid reader after all."

"So am I. By the way, have you ever read _Scarlet Night_ by Julian Troy? If not, I highly recommend it."

"I have! It really was great! Especially at the part where—"

"Father, I'm going to pack my bags."

"Juvia will help you." There is no way that Juvia will listen to two people rant about something Juvia has never heard about. Once we were in Loretta-san's room, a maid delivered us tea to enjoy. Juvia sat down on a chair and watched Loretta-san pack her bags

"Thank You for letting Juvia escape from that nightmare."

"I know what you mean, I had to listen to father talk about a book for three hours when I was seven, even after ten years of complaining, he still hasn't stopped, he did lower the number of lectures though."

"That sounds rough…" Poor Loretta-san, it really is a good thing that she's leaving for Fairy Tail and getting a chance study abroad for a while.

"It really was."

"Then were you turned off to books because of your father?"

"Somehow, no. I do enjoy reading from time to time, just not at the extent of Levy-san or father." Loretta-san finished packing away her clothes that is suitable for travel and one expensive dress.

"What are your hobbies then?"

"Music."

"Then how about Sound Magic?"

"What's that?"

"As the name implies, it's magic that create sound to attack, deafen sound, control lifeforms. Juvia even heard that sound magicians can give their sounds physical forms. Juvia does know that this type of magic will be affected by emotions a lot more than others."

"That sounds lovely, how do you use it?" Loretta-san laid out multiple instruments on her bed, debating which one to bring with her. From violins to pan flutes, all sorts of instruments rested, waiting for their owner's decision.

"From what Juvia has heard, simply by creating sounds with a tool and invoking magic into it will work."

"Then I should bring something portable." Loretta-san placed all the bulky instruments away, leaving the lightweight ones.

"The magic is more support based but, Juvia heard that it has decent offensive power."

"Does rhythm matter?"

"Juvia doesn't know, you will have to ask Master or someone else."

"I see."

"Are you done?"

"Almost, I just need to choose what instruments to bring with me."

"Maybe having you learn Re-equip will also be good for you, fortunately, Juvia knows the perfect person to teach you."

"What's that?"

"A magic that allows you to summon items from a pocket dimension."

"That sounds really handy."

"But learning two types of magic is really tricky, not to mention you only have a bit more than a year…"

"Then I'll learn Sound Magic as a priority, if I still have time, I'll learn the other one."

"If that's the plan, Juvia recommends bringing something that is small for now, there are music shops in Magnolia Town, so you shouldn't worry too much about bringing something."

"I'll take my violin then, it's the present I got from mother last year. And a flute from father." Loretta changed out of her dress and into a pair of jeans, a pink shirt with music notes and a black jacket. She strapped a flute to her right leg and picked up her bag and violin case. "Let's go!"

"Yes!" For once in Juvia's life, a girl preparing for travel was quicker to finish than two people talking.

* * *

Lamont-san was seeing us off at the train station. The father and daughter duo were trying not to cry.

"I'll tell your mother that you're training to become a mage, she's going to give me an earful, it might even cause her to come back immediately."

"That's good isn't it? We'll be a family again, after two years." The train arrived with a roar, Juvia and Levy-san got on first, we then helped move Loretta-san's luggage on-board.

"Take care of yourself, don't get sick."

"I…won't." Loretta choked on some words. "Bye b—" Lamont-san wrapped Loretta-san in a hug.

"See you later, I expect you to be a great mage when you come back. We love you."

"Thank You f—for everything…I'm turning over a new page…please…continue to…watch over me." Loretta-san was swallowing she tears as she spoke.

"Always." Lamont-san placed his pocket watch to Loretta-san's forehead, the heirloom gave off a warm, blue glow. "We'll be waiting for you." Loretta-san gasped in shock, then cried into her father's shoulders.

"Please be patience…" Loretta-san got on the train. "I love you and mom! The best parents ever!" The train accelerated, Lamont-san's waving figure got farther and smaller, while Loretta-san stayed the same. Levy-san placed a hand on Loretta-san's shoulder and guided her to our seat.

When Loretta-san sat down, she instantly hugged her violin and cried. We tried our best to comfort her, offering her napkin and rubbing her back clockwise. After a while, she took out her violin and played. Emotion flooded our compartment, waves of pains entered our ears, love, departure and melancholy. As Loretta-san poured out her heart into the music, Juvia felt Loretta-san's faint magic power flow out of her, morphing and dancing at the notes.

Juvia soon joined in when she recognized the piece she was playing. Juvia's voice became the supporting character in our performance. Loretta-san was shocked at first, but she quickly adapted and kept playing, pouring even more emotion. Juvia heard the sobbing of train attendants from outside the compartment as they passed by. Loretta-san's magic that's leaking out is affect other people's emotions! It's not strong enough to affect mages but, normal people that heard the music is crying.

A siren appeared in front of Juvia…

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Sorry that these two chapters didn't have to do much with Natsu and Juvia, but, I was going for Juvia constantly referencing and comparing other's actions to Natsu as a sign of missing him. Let me know what you think of it!**

 **The 'books' I written are something I came up on the fly, if there is such book, it is purely a coincidence. Aside from that, I'm not sure how well you guys would receive Loretta as a character, if you don't like her, tell me why and I'll try to change her.**

 **Hopefully, after this little arc, I'll get back to the stuff that you guys followed this story for, sorry for the people I disappointed. Though I haven't received any words of that yet, and I'm hoping I don't.**

 **Thanks for your support and kind words! I look forward for your feedback, I check for it everyday, even though I might not respond to it.**


	17. Chapter 17: A Day of Fun

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

The performance from Juvia and Loretta-san ended with a final, prolonged, heart-breaking note. Levy-san was solemnly reading her book, flipping pages much slower than usual. Loretta-san returned the violin back into the case and looked outside the window, in the direction of her home town.

"Juvia-san, you have a lovely voice."

"Thank You Loretta-san, but is it alright for Juvia to join in on your piece?"

"It's fine, I somewhat enjoyed it. Also, can you two drop the honorific?"

"Then you don't have to feel reserved around Juvia or Levy-san."

"Why do you still talk like that around me Juvia?" Levy-san protested.

"It's a habit, sorry."

"Just talk to us like normal, Lisanna, Erza and rest of the guild, we won't mind. Besides, you call Natsu more intimately than us, it really gives the rumors more legs to stand on."

"I—is that so? Then Juvia won't be so reserved anymore…" Juvia made such a blunder! No wonder why they keep teasing Juvia…

"Anyway, I want to know if the rumors of Fairy Tail is true." Loretta said.

"Like what?"

"Well, I heard that Fairy Tail is very destructive…is that true?" Juvia didn't answer yet, she sighed and placed her hands on her lap.

"It's the truth."

"Then how am I supposed to pay rent if most of it get used up as compensation?"

"W—well, generally, if you can keep the destructive people under control, it should be fine." Loretta pulled out a note book and started writing on it. The rest of the trip back home was largely quiet. Juvia wonders if Natsu is there, or is he going on a job? It has been about three days…

* * *

The rowdiness of the guild hall is something that Juvia missed surprisingly, the roaring of drunk men; giggling of nosy girls; slamming of punches and kicks. Loretta stood at the door, dumbfounded at the disorder, opening her mouth only to close it again. Juvia's friends already surround Juvia and Levy, bombarding us with questions. They quickly noticed Loretta staring at us hopelessly for help.

"Juvia, who is this?" Lisanna asked, gesturing to Loretta.

"She's Loretta, our new member."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get her a guild mark." Lisanna ran off behind a counter and walked back to Loretta with a stamp. "Loretta-san right? Do you mind if I call you Loretta?"

"No, I would like that."

"Then Loretta, where would you like your guild mark, and what color?"

"Umm…black and on my right hand." Lisanna pressed the stamp gently on Loretta's hand, leaving behind a black guild mark.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail! What magic do you use?" Loretta panicked, mouth clammed shut. Is she worried we would reject her?

"Loretta doesn't know how to use magic, but she is here to learn magic."

"Juvia!" Loretta screamed, freaking out even more.

"Don't worry, Loretta-san we won't turn anyone away, you're already a part of us."

"Thank You…"

"Come to think of it! We haven't introduced ourselves, I'm Lisanna."

"I'm Erza, nice to meet you."

"Bisca here, this is my daughter, Asuka."

"Hi!" Cana just finished putting down a barrel and sat on it.

"Cana, if you want a drinking partner, call me anytime okay?"

"You can get to know the other people later, we need introduce you to our guild Master." Lisanna took Loretta by the hand and guided her to Master, which was having a drink with Gildarts-san. Juvia and Levy followed after Lisanna.

"Hmm? What wrong Lisanna?"

"Master, we have a new recruit."

"Welcome child! What magic do you use?"

"Umm…I don't use any magic, but I would like to learn how to Sound Magic."

"Sound Magic huh? Unfortunately, we don't have anyone here that can teach you. However, I know a person, I'll give you an introduction letter later."

"Thank You so much!" Loretta bowed. Master chuckled heartily.

"If only Natsu can learn from you. Don't worry about it, we have more important things to do." Master stood on the chair that he was sitting on. "Alright you brats! This is our new member: Loretta. Take care of her! Until then, let's Party!" A roar of cheers echoed throughout the guild, mugs clashed against each other, droplets flew in the air.

"Hey Juvia! You're back!" Natsu climbed out of a broken bench, dusting himself off.

"Natsu! Are you okay?" Juvia ran to Natsu and examined to see if he had any wounds. Nothing seems to be wrong with his face, the sharp figures are still attractive as ever with a certain hint of playfulness. His toned abdomen was fine, Juvia bets if she pressed on them, little give would to be have. His vest was a bit messy, having a few splinters sticking out. Juvia moved to Natsu's arms, they looked unharmed, still retaining the muscular look that could pick Juvia up with ease.

"No problem, as if stripper can hit me hard enough to hurt me." Natsu showed a smile that Juvia hasn't seen for three days, it was really refreshing to see that bright expression.

"Then Juvia thinks that Erza would be able to."

"E—Erza!?" Juvia pointed to the red-haired demon stomping scarily towards Natsu, holding Gray-san's head in a headlock. Natsu tried to run as fast as possible but was ultimately caught and beaten by Erza. Wendy was now tending to the two victim's wounds.

"Natsu you really shouldn't keep fighting with Gray-san, it isn't going to go well for the both of you."

"But Juvia, how am I supposed to make this idiot admit that I'm stronger?"

"You don't, I'm clearly better than you."

"Gray-san, please don't provoke Natsu."

"Fine."

The party was finished in the most appropriate way for Fairy Tail, a lot of people knocked out by alcohol, and another set was beaten down during a brawl, giving lots of work for Wendy. Levy escorted Loretta to Fairy Hills. Natsu told Juvia that his team went on a job while Juvia was on hers. Natsu then invited Juvia for lunch, Juvia accepted of course, under the pretense that Natsu will pay for his own food.

* * *

We were sitting inside a restaurant, out of the way of the mid-Autumn wind and the sun's bright rays. Natsu was eating a lot of food like always, tearing through plates in quick succession. While the people around us was staring at Natsu, Juvia was focused on her own plate, having gotten used to Natsu's appetite.

"Congrats on completing your job by the way."

"Juvia didn't do anything that's worthy of celebrating, Levy did most of the work."

"I see." Natsu finished his meal, patting his stomach in satisfaction.

"How about you? Did anything interesting happen?"

"No, the usual, gramps said we overdid it again."

"Your team is destructive after all…"

"Erza keeps saying not to destroy too much, but she did as much as me!"

"That sounds like Erza."

"Oh yeah! Something strange did happen."

"And that is?"

"The daughter of the mayor of the town we helped kept clinging to me."

"Whaaat!?" Some slu—woman is clinging to Natsu!?

"What's wrong Juvia? You look angry."

"I—it's just your imagination." Juvia needs to calm down, why was Juvia so worked up in the first place? It isn't Juvia's business if someone is making moves on Natsu. Wait, moves…dating…ring…marriage!? Juvia won't let that woman have her way!

"You're definitely angry, is the food bad?"

"Please don't worry about it. Anyway, what did she do?"

"She invited me to her house, I tried to have Erza and the others come with, but she said there isn't enough room."

"Did you go?"

"No, it's boring without my friends." Juvia's anger defused slightly. "Nothing else happened."

"Good."

"Huh? Why is that?"

"You shouldn't concern yourself about it."

"Then can you explain why that girl was acting weird?"

"She had an ulterior motive!" Juvia must warn Natsu the dangers of a scheming woman.

"Like what?"

"She wanted to get close to you."

"Isn't that fine? Having more friends is great!" Don't give Juvia such a bright smile in a time like this! Defeated, Juvia sighed. "What's wrong? You look upset."

"Nothing, Natsu is just being Natsu."

"What's that supposed to mean!"

"Let's go, Juvia is done with her meal, Juvia also paid off her portion. Juvia will wait for you."

"Hey wait! What do you mean!?" Juvia pretended not to hear Natsu's question and walked away.

After Natsu found Juvia, we walked along the streets; Juvia was looking intently at the merchandise for good deals; Natsu was looking bored to the point where he was on the verge of whining.

"So Juvia, what do you want to do?"

"Well, Juvia wants to relax now that she came back from her job. Do you have any ideas? You have been in this town longer than Juvia."

"Lucy told me that watching a play with someone is a good idea. But…"

"But?"

"She said to only do it with another girl and no one else. Don't you find it weird?"

"Let's do that!" Juvia pulled Natsu to the nearest theatre, ignoring the fussing from the dragon slayer. We were soon staring down at several choices, Natsu didn't really care about what we're going to watch, so he left it to Juvia. A love story would bore Natsu; a detective play is too smart for him; a traditional folk play would put him to sleep even faster than a love play. So there really was only one choice, a play full of action scenes. But wait! Won't Natsu start cheering for one side when a fight breaks out? Even worse, what if he joins in on the fight? Master will give us a scolding of a lifetime. In the end, Juvia chose a love play.

* * *

Natsu surprised Juvia during the play—in more ways than one. First, he fell asleep half-way through the play and not within the first ten minutes. Second, he smelt surprisingly comforting, when Natsu entered dream land, he was about to slam his head onto the person next to him. To prevent disturbing the person, Juvia rested Natsu's head on Juvia's shoulder. Burning wood and food entered Juvia's nose, adding the warmth that Natsu's head was transferring, it really felt like Juvia was in her home, having a nice dinner at winter by a warm fire.

Juvia really wasn't paying attention to the play, not to the extent that Juvia has no idea what the play was about, just Juvia was day-dreaming about spending Christmas with Natsu. He should be free, Happy would most likely be with Carla, Lucy and Gray will be busy, Erza has to help out with the guild celebration. Under the warmth of Natsu, Juvia couldn't help but have a smile throughout the entire play.

Natsu work up from the applauses, the fact that Juvia was clapping didn't help either—the play was nice despite not paying attention to half of it. A shame that Juvia can't deceive Natsu by saying there is food, those reactions are always cute.

"Is…it overrrr?" Natsu slurred, sleep still having a good grip on him.

"Yes, it is, if you didn't sleep through the play, you would know." Natsu shook his head violently.

"Sorry, I was bored."

"Then let's do something that you would enjoy."

"Then let's go—"

"We already had lunch."

"A snack then?" Natsu looked at Juvia with hopeful eyes. Why can't Juvia resist that look?

"Fine."

"Sweet!" Natsu was among the first people out of the theatre; Juvia had to push past many people just to follow him.

Now walking along the market, Juvia looked at the food stalls with interest, there was some foods that Juvia has never tried. Natsu was following his nose for good food. In times like this, Juvia is glad that Natsu has such a great sense of smell. Natsu's nose led him to a stall manned by an overbearing-looking person selling some skewers of meat.

"Hey pops! What kind of meat is that? It smells real good."

"I'm glad you think so, it's Horgen meat. An animal that's like a cow."

"Cool!"

"How about it? I'll give you a discount for you and your girlfriend over there."

"Juvia isn't—"

"Really!? Then I'll take seven!"

"Comin' up!" As the owner started to take out the skewers, Natsu gave Juvia a triumphant grin. Since Natsu didn't deny what the owner said, d—does that mean w—we're in a…a r—relationship!? No way right? Natsu is tactless, he wouldn't understand what that means, right? Juvia looked at Natsu's cheerful face as he exchanged money with skewers in a bag. Natsu handed Juvia a skewer as we walked away.

"But still, that man is nice for giving me a discount just because a girl is with me, maybe I'll come with Lisanna next time." Natsu chomped on the skewer. Natsu is just being Natsu…

"Juvia thinks that Natsu shouldn't do that."

"Why? He said girl friend right? Then, any girl should do." He mistaken girlfriend for female friend!? Juvia feels a headache coming on, so Juvia massaged her head.

"That's not what he means."

"Then what—oh…" Natsu continued to swallow the skewers while Juvia takes small nibbles. "Well, his mistake." Natsu grinned again, drawing a sigh from Juvia. The flavor of the skewer was dampened by Natsu's antics, a shame since it was pretty tasty. At least Juvia now knows that Natsu knows his brain isn't as bad as Juvia thinks it is.

Juvia let Natsu eat the rest of the food he bought, it was his money, so Juvia felt bad eating it, but also because the skewers reminded Juvia of what happened, and another headache would come on.

For some reason, Natsu let Juvia decide where we would go next. To get back at him, Juvia told Natsu that we are going shopping for clothes. The groan already made the lingering headache vanish completely.

* * *

"Hold still." Juvia was holding a suit in front of Natsu because Juvia hasn't really seen the dragon slayer in one, so Juvia was curious. Gajeel looked silly in one when he was singing, Juvia was hoping Natsu is the same.

After deciding on a suit for him, Juvia sent Natsu to the changing room and waited for the results, lacrima in hand—hoping for an embarrassing photo. When Natsu came out, Juvia was shocked. The suit fits him extremely well!

The black suit that Juvia picked out contrasted perfectly with Natsu's hair, giving a focus point onto to his charming and iconic spikey head. His usual wild look became tamer after putting on formal clothing, which made him terrifyingly alluring. His fit body was a great match with the tight-fitting clothes. A handsome devil and staring at Juvia with annoyed eyes.

"Well? Can I get out of this stuffy thing yet?"

"N—no you look amazing in that!" Juvia started snapping photos like a reporter she had seen, only that Juvia didn't shout something ridiculous. Juvia plans to give copies to her friends later.

"I—if I may, can you wear a dress and do a photo shoot for us?" A store clerk asked, hands holding a tissue to her nose. "You can take the suit for free and the dress that you'll wear."

"Can Juvia get a copy of the photo?" The clerk smiled.

"Of course."

To match the black suit that Natsu is wearing, the clerk picked out a royal blue dress for Juvia, commenting that it'll be a perfect fit with Juvia's hair as well. Juvia wasn't sure about the bold slit that ran down Juvia's right leg but, the photo with Natsu will be worth it.

"Okay! Please get closer." The clerk adjusts the lacrima settings as we shuffled closer to each other. "Now please Natsu-san, could you wrap your arms around Juvia-san's waist?" Natsu pulled Juvia into a hug. He's so warm…Juvia wouldn't mind this more often…

"Juvia, are you okay? You look really red, did you drink? No, you don't smell like Cana."

"I—it's fine."

"Next! Natsu-san place your head on Juvia-san's shoulder." As Natsu did so, his comforting smell entered Juvia's nose again.

"Like this?"

"Perfect! Now Juvia-san, please bent your right knee, just enough to show your thigh." Juvia wasn't comfortable doing this but, Juvia's mind was too hazy to complain. "Now smile! Three, two, one, cheese!" The lacrima flashed several times. After that came the solo shots, Natsu first, then Juvia.

We exited the shop with the clothes we got, Natsu breathed a sigh of relief and stretched thoroughly.

"I'm finally out of that prison! I'm going back to take a nap. See ya Juvia!" Natsu ran off, slugging a shopping behind his shoulder.

"See you!" Juvia made her way back to Fairy Hills, hugging the framed photo tightly. Today was really fun! Juvia got to see a side of Natsu that Juvia has never seen before—a stupidly handsome one as well. Now Juvia's room is one photo less duller.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!**

 **I decided to speed up the process, hopefully not too much, because at the pace I'm going, I'll die before the story ends, and I want to write other stories too. So expect bigger leaps than usual from here on.**

 **Still want some suggestions for chapters because I'm really scraping the bottom here, and I'm no where close to the two dating yet. I don't want to bored you guys with constant chapters that advances too slowly.**

 **That's all from me for now, I look forward for your feedback!**


	18. Chapter 18: The Third Act

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

"Is this really Natsu!? He totally seems like a different person!" Lucy exclaimed at Juvia showing Natsu in a suit—his solo shots of course.

"He really looks spectacular." Mira said, cupping her cheeks with her hands. "He was so cute back when he's a child, now he's so handsome."

"But still, how did you managed to get this picture?" Erza spooned another bite of her favourite cake.

"Natsu was being Natsu, so as punishment, Juvia made him to go shopping with Juvia. Then Juvia realised that she has never seen Natsu in a suit, so Juvia made him wear one. The results really shocked Juvia."

"I think it'll stun anyone, Natsu never looked this refined before."

"How much did this suit cost?" Mira asked. "It looks expensive."

"Well, since Juvia did a photo shoot with…Natsu, they gave us the suit for free…" Our girl group exploded in a surprise, some were nudged Juvia's arm, others requested for the photo. "It's not like that! Juvia just doesn't want to pay…"

"Just hurry up and show us the picture!" Lucy requested. "Now that you told us, there is no way we'll let you go without seeing it." As said, Cana and Levy barricaded the exit to Fairy Hills, locking Juvia in. Everyone stared at Juvia with anticipation.

"Juvia understands…it's in Juvia's room, Juvia will get it now."

"Don't pull a fast one on us now, we'll make you regret it." Reluctantly, Juvia went into her room, got the picture and hugged it tight. Juvia really should learn how to keep things a secret…

"Does Juvia really have to show it? It's really embarrassing. How about Juvia just treats everyone to a meal instead?"

"Nothing that you _framed_ is going to be shameful." Cana retorted. "Now! Show us!" Juvia found herself surrounded by predators, eyes targeted at the thing pressed against Juvia's chest. Now out of options, Juvia thrusted the picture towards the group, drawing cries of admiration and excitement.

"I knew that it'll be intimate since it's a photo shoot." Mira said. "But, I didn't expect something this bold to be coming from Juvia."

"Right? These two look great together!" Lucy added. With each passing praise and comment, Juvia felt her face get hotter and hotter, steam was coming off Juvia's head.

"And you said you're not together!" Cana bumped into Juvia's waist with her elbow. "You're even doing something that's not like you."

"J—Juvia re—really isn't…with…Natsu." Juvia's teasing continued for the rest of the morning, even though Juvia intended that Natsu would be the one to be teased. Juvia really needs to learn how to be more secretive. But this feeling in Juvia's heart, feels strangely familiar…

* * *

At night, when everyone has left for their homes or gone to sleep, Juvia was thinking about something. They really have been teasing Juvia for a while now. It's not like Juvia hates Natsu. Frankly, Juvia likes Natsu's company. But saying that Juvia is in a relationship with him is going too far! Sure, Natsu has lots of up sides like: loyalty, humorous, kind, comforting—but still! It's going too far. Most likely, Natsu won't love someone like Juvia anyway…

Juvia spent the rest of the night thinking about what happened ever since Natsu pulled Juvia away from her dark times. We hung out a lot more, Juvia got to know Natsu more as a person and a friend. He's dependable and…Juvia wants to spend more time with him…

Come to think of it, Natsu has been on Juvia's mind for a while now, always comparing people's actions with Natsu's. Even going as far as missing Natsu's silliness that seems to make Juvia smile no matter what happens. And the jealousy spikes… Why is this happening? Juvia's heart is…pounding…and it feels really nice. It's like when Juvia was in love with Gray-san, yet, not like it at all. Maybe Juvia really is weird like Natsu says.

* * *

Juvia was now sitting alone in the guild with a glass of juice, slowly sipping it as Juvia watched the first brawl in three days break out. Needless to say, it was Natsu that started the cogs to the violent machine Juvia sees right now. It started with Natsu tripping over Gray-san, he then slapped Nab-san which then crashed into Elfman-san, making him angry, saying how it's 'unmanly to sneak attack people.'. Natsu was fighting Gray-san, Juvia didn't take her eyes off the fight for one second.

Unlike back when Juvia would stare only at Gray-san, Juvia is now paying more attention to the fight itself, not the lean muscles that stretched and contracted with every movement. With that said, Juvia found herself taking quick glances at Natsu's battle-drugged face and thinking how cool it looked. Juvia rooted secretly for Natsu to win, cheering in her mind when he lands a hit and feeling neutral when Gray-san hit Natsu. Since when did Juvia become a person that likes seeing fights?

Juvia really has nothing to do again, taking a job just after a week since her last one felt too tiring for Juvia. Juvia did monitor Loretta's progress at learning magic. Master introduced her to an owner of a music shop which happens to know Sound Magic. Before the owner would teach Loretta any magic, she would need to know the basics of magic, so Juvia is teaching her. Currently, Loretta and Master is in the corner of the guild, with the former trying to pour magic in a lacrima, Master does have more experience in teaching after all, so Master offered to look over Loretta's basic training. Then he'll hand Loretta back to Juvia for more advance techniques before sending Loretta to learn the magic she wants. The basics should take around three days at the quickest and up to a week judging from what Juvia has seen at the train. Until then, Juvia has nothing to do.

"Juvia, what's wrong? You don't look energetic at all." Mira topped off Juvia's glass of juice according to Juvia's request.

"It's just that Juvia is bored again."

"Then why don't you take a job?"

"Juvia wants to rest for a bit longer before doing so. Also, the jobs on the board don't suit Juvia."

"Then, do you want to have a sleepover at my house?"

"Why so sudden?"

"Lucy asked me for help to improve her cooking, interestingly enough, Levy also asked the same thing. So I suggested that they have a sleepover at my place so I or Lisanna can help them."

"But Juvia feels like her cooking doesn't need improvement. Sure, it isn't as good as yours but that's because you have more experience and talent than Juvia."

"That's true about the experience. However, I won't agree with the talent, I'm just a normal person that likes cooking like you, perhaps a little more than you." Mira thought about something for a while, placing a finger on her cheek. Her eyes lit up with excitement. "I know! Why don't you help with the teaching?"

"But didn't they ask you? Juvia would feel bad for them if they had someone teach cooking that they didn't ask for."

"I'm busy with my job at the guild, so I can only come back when my duties are done. So, you can help out Lisanna when I'm not around."

"Is that okay?"

"Sure it is!"

"Then, Juvia will have a sleepover at your place."

"See you tomorrow tonight then!" Mira's sun-like smile appeared again. Perhaps it's because Juvia has something to do now, Juvia doesn't feel as gloomy as she did yesterday. Maybe Juvia can ask Mira about something that's been happening to Juvia for the past few months. Something that involves Natsu, Juvia has suspicions about it recently, but talking with Mira should clear it up.

Toothbrush, pajamas, extra change of clothes and a gift for the Strauss family…all set! As Juvia closed the door to her room, Juvia took once last glance at the picture of Natsu and Juvia. See you later.

* * *

The last time Juvia was at Mira's house was when Juvia wanted to improve her cooking for Gray-san. The results were great, so Juvia has full confidence that after the sleepover, Lucy and Levy will have the same thing happen to them. Although, it might be a bit rough. Juvia rang the doorbell, Juvia was worried that coming here at seven in the morning will be too early for Lisanna, Juvia knows that Mira arrives at the guild around six, so there is no need to worry about her. Juvia's anxiousness proved to be unneeded as the doors swung open, showing Lisanna in pajamas, looking reasonably energetic.

"Sorry for coming in so early!" Juvia presented a paper bag to Lisanna. "A gift for your troubles."

"You don't really have to do all this." Lisanna took the bag and widened the door gap. "Come inside! The others aren't here yet, so we have some time."

"When will they be here?"

"They said around ten."

"Then Juvia is three hours early!?"

"Yup!"

"What has Juvia done!?"

"W—well, don't panic, we can have some fun in the meantime."

"Like what?"

"Just simple talking, we can play a game if you want."

"What kind of game?" Lisanna brought out a deck of playing cards from under the table.

"Some cards." We ended up playing cards until the doorbell chimed loudly into the living room that we were playing in.

"Hello!" Lucy said in a sing-song voice. At her legs, were some bags with food sticking out of them.

"We've come to cook!" Levy held bags of ingredients at us, arms shaking at the weights of the groceries.

"Well, come inside first, those must be heavy." Juvia helped off-load the bags for Lucy and Levy, while Lisanna pulled out all the kitchen tools we should need. "Before we get started, can you tell me why you wanted to get better at cooking all of the sudden?"

"Gray wanted to try my cooking since he hasn't yet."

"I…just want to improve my skill." Lucy's reply was expected, while Levy's was a bit suspicious. Lisanna and Lucy seemed to have noticed as well, giving Levy a smile that looks dangerous and slightly dark. "Okay, Gajeel was complaining about how there is nothing good to eat on our missions. I didn't bring cooking equipment because I wasn't confident with my skills."

"Then, let's get started! The two of you, put on an apron, me and Juvia will be watching over you two until Mira-nee gets back."

"Yes!" "Please take care of us!" Unlike Mira, Lisanna wasn't as strict with her teaching, giving advice and pointing ways they can improve without ever saying what was wrong with the dish. Juvia took a more free-form approach, only saying vague comments like 'it's missing some freshness.' the most direct comment Juvia was on the lines of 'It's too salty.'. The rest, Juvia hopes that they would figure it out. Perhaps Juvia's solitude that made Juvia rely on herself has rubbed off on her teaching styles.

Mira—on the other hand—will just say what is wrong with the dish and won't hesitate at telling people off, it's like her demon-side has transferred to her cooking. Juvia feels like Lisanna and Juvia's teaching methods are spoiling Lucy and Levy. Hoping that they'll improve so that Mira's criticisms won't hit them too hard, Juvia gave more clear advice.

As Juvia guessed, Luvy and Levy got a rude awakening once Mira got back, her words stung at their pride. By the end of it, they looked terrible, so Mira sent them to the bath first and apologized for the harsh words.

* * *

It was in the dead of night, Juvia was sitting with Mira by a heater made from a lacrima. Juvia asked for a meeting while Lucy and Levy was bathing.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Juvia wants to ask for some advice."

"About?"

"Juvia thinks that she might be in love." Mira maintained her counselor-esque look.

"With who? Natsu?"

"Maybe…" Juvia fiddled with her thumbs as she considered her next words. "Juvia realised that she has been thinking about Natsu in many situations, even the ones that doesn't have to do with fire or the colour pink."

"That's not all right?"

"Yes, Juvia has been…ch—checking him…out."

"Isn't this what happened with Gray?"

"Yes but, it feels more intense that last time."

"It sounds like you're in love, so why don't you confess?"

"What will Natsu think?"

"Happy I think." That caught Juvia off guard, Juvia doesn't understand those words and it seems like her face told Mira. "You know how Igneel went missing for a long time right?"

"Yes."

"I think that Natsu wants a family of his own due to the time he had with his father, maybe he wants to do something that Igneel could not."

"What if he doesn't like Juvia?"

"Don't worry about that, Natsu likes everyone in the guild, even Gray, as much as he hates to admit it. Love is a different matter."

"Then how should Juvia confe—"

"In the most straight way possible." Mira replied without hesitation. "That man is dense than anything I've ever seen, subtly will only made you look weird."

"Any ideas?"

"I think an old fashioned 'I love you' works wonders, make sure you clarify what kind of love, it wouldn't surprise me if he mistakes girlfriend for female friend."

"Actually…" Juvia murmured what happened not too long ago to Mira, resulting in her laughing as hard as she could, but she controlled it quickly, knowing that her sister and brother is sleeping.

"He really did! Natsu really is Natsu no matter how many years passed."

"Juvia realises this too…"

"All the more reason to hit him with no other ways to interpret your feelings, ask Lucy and Gray for help if you want more advice, they did offer help. Good luck!"

"How did you—"

"Secret." Mira winked at Juvia and walked back to her room upstairs, leaving Juvia with one, obvious choice.

After this session, Mira has given Juvia enough reason to give love another try. Natsu, please be Juvia's third and final prince.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I did mention that I will be speeding things up, was things too fast?**

 **Also, I hope you guys didn't get lost at the time jumps in this chapter, let me know you are confused, I'll change all the mistakes and add new stuff right before I'll post the final chapter.**

 **Until then, Thanks for your kind words, give me more feedback!**


	19. Chapter 19: With A Mission

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

It was nearing the end of Autumn, Earthland is feeling colder than before. Yet, it's just the beginning. Loretta is now learning under a Sound Magician, Juvia has high hopes for her, Loretta learned the advance foundations of magic faster than Juvia expected. During this time, Juvia has tried to follow Mira's advice and confess to Natsu. Five times, all of them failed without Juvia even opening her mouth. One time the mood wasn't right, the other time, Loretta asked Juvia for advice, once, Juvia was too embarrassed and walked away. In similar fashion, all five of Juvia's attempts has failed. So, Juvia has finally decided to ask Lucy for help. Hence, Juvia is walking on the chilly Magnolia streets on a cloudy day, wearing a warm, grey coat and having a black scarfed wrapped around Juvia's neck.

The river than ran along Magnolia Town has leaves sprinkled throughout the canal, bending with the brick pathway. Juvia followed this same river when tailing Natsu, who would've thought than this river is also near Lucy's house? Juvia's boots clicked loudly on the stone roads as she looked at the houses that lined up uniformly.

Reaching the house Lucy lives in, Juvia took a deep breath and knocked the door. 'Coming!' came from behind the door with the shuffling of feet and banging of furniture. If Juvia has Natsu's hearing, maybe Juvia could hear cries of pain when Lucy banged against a cupboard of something. The door opened, Lucy looked surprised to find out who her visitor was.

"Juvia! What are you doing here so early?"

"May Juvia come inside first? It's quite cold out here." Juvia's words reminded Lucy that she was still wearing pajamas, making her shiver at the Autumn winds. Lucy ushered Juvia inside and closed the door along with a sigh of relief once Juvia was indoors.

"So, what's up?"

"Juva wants your help with Natsu…"

"You finally became honest with yourself!" Lucy got behind Juvia and pushed her upstairs and into a couch; prepared some tea for the both of us; sat down with the vigor of a kid. "Hurry up and give me the details!"

"Juvia tried five times, all of them failed, one way or the other."

"So, you want my help."

"Please."

"Alright, I'll go on a job with Gray and we'll convince Erza to go with Loretta on her first job that's she's planning to go soon. That way, you have a chance to ask Natsu out for a job. There you can confess without any interference, it'll all depend on your ability though."

"Juvia should manage."

"What do you like about Natsu anyway? Every girl is curious."

"Well…ummm…he's loyal and kind. Also...he's cute at times, sometimes cool…" Juvia's head probably scolding about now, Juvia's heart is beating faster and louder. "but all of the time he's…handsome." All the while, Lucy was looking at Juvia in a way that someone would do when looking at a child.

"Aww!"

"P—please don't tell Mira! Or Cana! If possible, no one else!"

"You know that's not happening." Lucy watched Juvia squirm on her seat while giggling uncontrollably. "Let's do this next week, Loretta did say that's when she's going on her first job, you can leave the rest up to us, you just practice your confession."

"Yes! Thank You for your help!"

"Well then, I'll go to Gray's place and tell him what we're doing next week, we'll try to convince Erza to help Loretta on her job." Lucy went to her wardrobe and pulled out a winter coat and other warm clothing. Lucy frowned after putting on her clothes, she then took them off and sat back down. "Gray is still sleeping, but I don't want to wake him up, he's cranky if he doesn't get enough sleep you see. But, I guess you already know that from you know…"

"It is still early, has your cooking improved since our sleepover?"

"Good idea! I'll show you my training results since then!" Lucy got fired up and opened her fridge before she got to cooking.

After a satisfying meal, Lucy took off to Gray-san's house, so Juvia went to the guild, Loretta should be there already, let's see how much progress she has made since Juvia last saw her.

"Juvia! Just perfect, me and Mira was about to perform for the guild, so you want to join?" Loretta and Mira were up on stage, with the former sitting at a grand piano and the latter holding her guitar, microphones were set up to amplify Mira's voice and the instrument's melody.

"It should be fun, Juvia will join you. But, what's the occasion?"

"We're testing out Loretta's Sound Magic that she learned, she still has a long way to go but, her teacher said she should be able to give sound a visible form at this stage, you can't touch it but, it sounds lovely and romantic doesn't it?"

"Also, Master said that if I do well, he will let me perform at the Christmas show, I've always wanted to make people happy with music so, this seems like a perfect way to start."

"Are you two fine with Juvia's voice?"

"Absolutely!" "Of course!" the two gave Juvia a bright smile full of encouragement, convincing Juvia to climb up on stage, one reason why Juvia was more willing to come up on stage was because it's still early so not much people has arrived at the guild yet. Sadly, Natsu is never a morning person.

"We'll be playing 'The Dance of Leaves', are you familiar with this one Juvia?"

"That's a jolly, fast piece isn't it? Juvia does know it but, not very well." Since Juvia was alone for a long time, Juvia is more familiar with solo pieces.

"Don't worry, we have the sheets for it." Mira handed Juvia a copy of the musical composition. One problem, Juvia doesn't know how to read the sheet. Mira noticed Juvia, pained expression and walked over along with her setup. "I'll help you jump in. the blue lyrics are for you, and the red are for me, Loretta was planning to sing the blue parts but, since you're here, it'll let Loretta concentrate on her magic."

"Then what are the black ones?"

"Those, we sing together, when your turn is coming up, I'll tap my feet. After a second you start singing, is that alright?"

"Yes!"

"Then, we'll start." Mira nodded at Loretta, and fast-pace music reverberated throughout the guild.

As we began our performance, musical notes appeared and bounced to the tune, turning into orange leaves as their dance escalated with the music, spiraling into a tornado made of leaves. Mira's guitar joined in, shifting the colour of the leaves into the colours of Autumn: yellow, orange and red. After Juvia and Mira started to sing, the tornado scattered into two distinct piles of leaves, one for each of the singers. When Mira's verse came, her pile swirled and expanded. Then once Juvia's turn came up, her pile copied Mira's pile, as if communicating with each other.

For once, there was only one type of sound in the guild, everyone else was silent, all of them looking intently at us with awe. This trance-like state everyone was in stayed for a few seconds after the final note whimpered into air. Loud cheering broke the serene tranquility, claps and whistles got swallowed by the roars.

One unlucky dragon slayer with pink hair was clamping his hands to his ears like a vice, giving off the most pained expression Juvia has ever seen, Juvia wanted to run down the stage and comfort him. However, Juvia doesn't really know what Juvia can do about the noise, so Juvia powerlessly watched Natsu suffer until the ovation stopped. However, the cheering was longer than Juvia expected, so Juvia rushed down the stage and held her hands against Natsu's. Juvia has no idea if it helped deafen the noise or not because the cheering quickly stopped after the crowd saw Natsu in pain. Apologetic looks crowned the guild member's face. Natsu pointed at his head repeatedly, then to the infirmary door.

"Does your ears still hurt?" Sitting on a chair while holding his forehead, Natsu hissed in pain. Juvia was sitting next to him, just putting down a cup of water.

"No…I just have a headache…never mind, my ears are ringing." Juvia reached out and massaged Natsu's temple softly.

"Is this better?" Juvia whispered, not wanting to strain his ears even further.

"A little…" Natsu groaned.

"Do you want to lie down?"

"Yes…" Natsu rested in head on Juvia's lap.

"Ehh? U—umm…Natsu, there's a bed…you…umm should rest there."

"It hurts too much to move. Sorry…but, please bear with it for a while."

"N—no it's okay, you just surprised me." Juvia's hand found their way back to Natsu's temple and started the same circular motion as before.

"Thanks."

"Sorry that Juvia didn't help earlier, Juvia thought that maybe that everyone would quiet down quickly."

"It's fine, you guys did great."

"Thank You…" Once Natsu recovered, he hopped off his seat and was back to this usual self. Natsu lit his hands on fire and rushed out. Is he getting revenge? Screams of suffering and requests for mercy answered Juvia's questions.

Now that Loretta is off on her first job, Lucy and Gray used that as their cue to leave on a job as well, it's been a day since then. Juvia remembers Lucy giving Juvia a wink before setting off. Juvia is looking at the guild notice board for any long jobs Juvia can go on with Natsu. Aha! Juvia tore off a paper that interests her. 'Help wanted in finding and acquiring mushrooms found in Lockwild Island.' Reward: three hundred thousand Jewels. Juvia has never heard of that place, maybe Master would know. Taking the paper with Juvia, Juvia tried to find Master but decided to settle with Levy since she's closer.

"Hey Levy, this job says to find a mushroom found in Lockwild Island, do you know what kind of place that is?"

"Uhh…if I recall…it should be south of Earthland, it's a island famous for a mushroom that is said to have great medicinal value, with the right combination of ingredients, I heard that you can cure almost anything with it.

"The island shouldn't get that cold since it's further down. Slightly mutated versions of animals you would find here are all that you can find in that island, so, I don't think you'll run into anything you haven't seen before, maybe a boar with bigger tusks than normal.

"Do you want my team to come with you?" Juvia whispered the reason why she is going on a quest in the first place. "I see! Good luck, I'm expecting good news when you get back."

"Yes!" Juvia ran out the door to find Natsu. This time, there will be no obstacles in Juvia's way! Natsu, you will become Juvia's!

Juvia's first goal is to find Happy and tell him to leave Natsu alone with Juvia on this quest. Hence, Juvia is carrying a bag of fish. Juvia found Happy fishing by a river—without Natsu.

"Happy, I'm going to ask Natsu out on a job but, I don't want you to go with him."

"Why?"

"Well…I umm…want to confess to him…"

"You're actually doing it!?"

"Yes…"

"But Natsu is a moron, you sure you want him?"

"Just don't go with him and I'll give you these fish!" Juvia rushed out those words and thrusted the bag of fish to Happy. The weight in Juvia's hand was lifted instantly by two blue paws.

"You got it!"

"Where is he right now?"

"I think he's bored so he such be training, just follow the explosions and you'll find him easy." With Juvia's first task done, Juvia went to find Natsu by following the most recent explosion Juvia heard.

Juvia followed the noises to the training ground Juvia found Natsu at before, the crater is still there, just not burning and giving off an impressive amount of heat. Natsu wasn't near the crater, he was blasting a rock apart with his magic, making high-velocity shards of stone flying towards Juvia. Even before Juvia's water wall was fully formed, a bellow of flames got rid of the shards.

"Are you hurt Juvia? Sorry I didn't notice you before I blew the rock apart"

"No, it's fine, Juvia was the one that intruded on your training."

"So what's up? You need anything?"

"W—would you like t—to go on a job with…me? Juvia understands if you don't to…you are busy with your—"

"Of course I'll go! I was so bored that I could die! Everyone had to take a job so suddenly. Did you ask Happy as well?"

"Happy said he isn't coming."

"What? He's still mad about the fish I took from him? Who needs that guy anyway, you and me get along just fine! We make a great pair!" Natsu grinned again, but Juvia wasn't taking notice due to what Natsu said. Pair…th—that means couple right!? Ahh! Juvia is so happy! "…Juvia…what is...about…well?" We'll have five cute kids running around the house, Juvia wants them to take after the father, he _is_ the better looking one! And the wedding should be— "Juvia!"

"Y—yes!?"

"Stop spacing out will ya?"

"S—sorry…"

"Sheesh. So, what's the job about?"

"Here it is." Juvia took out the folded job paper and gave it to Natsu.

"Is this mushroom tasty?"

"Is that all that's in your mind? Also, Juvia has no idea."

"Then, let's go!"

"Wait! We need to prepare for the journey, also, we need to meet the client. And…Juvia needs to pick out a swimsuit…"

"What for? Are we going swimming?"

"We're going on an island! An a tropical one at that, it would be a waste not to having a little fun!"

"Alright, alright jeez…girls are so weird."

"But you don't hate weird right?" Natsu grinned cheerfully.

"Nope!"

"Kill meeee…" Nastu groaned once the train started moving.

"Come here." Juvia pushed Natsu's head to Juvia's lap and started to rub Natsu's back, ignoring the jealous stares from passerby's coming Natsu's way.

"Thanks, urck…"

"Stop talking, just rest. If you want, Juvia can sing you to sleep."

"P—please…do." Before long, Juvia gets the joy of brushing the hairs of an unconscious Natsu. It feels so long since Juvia has last done this, but really, it's only been a little over a month. It's still as pleasant as last time. Natsu was sleeping soundly with nothing reasonable that can wake him. His peaceful, cute sleeping face is something that Juvia would never get tired of. His snarf became loose, showing Juvia his scar on his neck. A small one that piqued Juvia's curiosity, Lucy said to not ask about it since it's something traumatizing, which does worry Juvia somewhat, it must've been really scary since even Natsu of all people is traumatized.

After an hour or so, we are close to our destination, soon, Juvia will have the man of her dreams.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I hope that I'm not rushing things too much, I do want to wrap this story up after all!**

 **I don't have anything to say this time, just my appreciation of the nice words you guys left me.**

 **I look forward to your feedback! Sadly, not much is there, but, I'm grateful for the people that did comment something.**


	20. Chapter 20: Her Third Chance

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

"Thanks for coming all the way out here to accept my request," A man that looks to be in his fifties bowed to Juvia and Natsu. He adjusted his glasses and swept away his whitening bangs. "I'm Wilbur Newman, a doctor. I'm sure you know that I'm looking for a mushroom on a specific island. Sadly, I've come across a patient that can't be healed by any conventional means, so please, get me five Summerburn Mushrooms."

"Then, do you know where in the island can the mushrooms be found? It'll make our work easier, Juvia is sure that will benefit the both of us."

"Of course, these mushrooms only grow around this time of year, I heard they are most commonly found near dead trees, but they can be found just about anywhere on the island. They are white in colour but have red jewel-like beads on the surface of the mushrooms. It shouldn't be hard to miss, if you have further trouble, I hear that the local wildlife there enjoy eating them."

"Are they tasty?" Natsu's bored demeanor changed completely after hearing of mushroom's 'attractive' qualities.

"Natsu!" Juvia smacked Natsu's shoulders as his unprofessional act.

"What? I'm hungry."

"Sorry for my partner's actions." Juvia bowed slightly.

"No, no, it's fine to be like this, that's what youth is about after all." The doctor laughed heartily. "And yes, I heard that they are delicious if cooked properly. But please, keep in mind that you must give me five mushrooms, I don't care how many you eat as long I get the required amount and you don't eat so much that it'll harm the eco-system over there."

"No problem pops! We'll get you the mushrooms in no time! Come on Juvia!" Natsu pulled Juvia by the hand again, ignoring the redness of Juvia's face or the chuckling of Wilbur-san.

Now outside, Juvia smelt the ocean air again, just like when we came here, the Autumn chill was negated by the dome of heat that Natsu is emitting which, thanks to Natsu pulling Juvia, Juvia is well within the effective range of the dome.

"Natsu, while Juvia likes your enthusiasm, you realise that we are going to an island right?" Natsu's fast-pace walking stopped. "That means we're going on a boat." Juvia finished with a smile.

"C—can we swim?"

"No, we don't even know where the island is."

"I'm not getting on that death machine again!" Natsu took off, running as fast as he could, troubling, because Juvia really can't catch up to him when he's like this. So Juvia employed her next best method.

"Natsuuu!" Juvia made a cone over her mouth, projecting her voice as far as she could. "If you don't come back now, Juvia won't help you with your sickness or cook food!" The speck of pink hair became bigger and bigger as Natsu came running back with a defeated face.

"Sorry…"

"Juvia knows that your motion sickness is bad but, please don't go running away like that, you're just delaying things."

"But it feels like I'm dying when I'm on one of those things…" Juvia now knows why Mira would tease Natsu when they were kids, this sulking side of Natsu is unbelievably cute.

"That's why Juvia is here right?"

"I still have to get on one of those…things." Even with the talk we had, Juvia still had to drag Natsu on board the boat to Lockwild Island.

* * *

It's been a while since Juvia was out on sea, the last time was S-class exams, lots of things happened since then, as the waves rocked the boat slightly, Juvia thought about how crazy it is to have Juvia's love interest change from Gray-san to Natsu. Looking at Natsu's soothed expression reminded Juvia that this trip to the island is two days long, meaning Natsu has to eat while being seasick, Juvia winced at the thought of Natsu throwing up what he ate every meal. Perhaps Natsu can starve for the trip, but that seems too cruel for someone that likes to eat…what has Juvia done? Will he hate Juvia?

The time that Juvia dreaded has come, Natsu woke up feeling hungry and sick at the same time. Slumping against the window, Natsu was first groaning at his sickness, then complaining about how hungry he is. With a plate of food on Juvia's side and another next to a Natsu's, Juvia already finished her meal while Natsu was still struggling to pick up a spoon. Never in Juvia's life would she expect to finish a meal before Natsu will. Unable to watch any further, Juvia picked up the plate and spoon.

"Juvia will feed you, just don't throw up on Juvia." Natsu looked at Juvia like he's seen an angel, rejoicing at his salvation.

"I'll…try…" While Juvia should be happy that she gets to feed the man of her dreams, Juvia was too busy worrying about Natsu's welfare and dodging food bits that came flying off Natsu's mouth when Natsu started coughing and wrenching. Juvia should make plans to do this again, but without the transportation. Maybe Juvia can find a way to negate his motion sickness, Levy did say something about reading up remedies for Gajeel, perhaps Juvia should join her.

After spooning the final mouthful to Natsu's groaning mouth, Juvia wiped Natsu's mouth and leaned his head to Juvia's lap once more. Juvia really can't wait until Natsu becomes energetic again.

* * *

The splashing of water and the disappearance of Natsu told Juvia that he wasn't bothered to wait for the boat to dock, so Juvia told the captain that Juvia will be following her companion; took some provisions and jumped out of the boat as well. Juvia found Natsu hugging a pile of sand and kissing a rock. Juvia already changed into something that's a bit more suited in a tropic climate, a light blue t-shirt with a brown vest and jean shorts. Seeing how Natsu is still revering the sand, Juvia decided to give Natsu a proper meal after two days of struggling. Juvia asked Natsu to start a fire after Juvia built a fireplace, then Juvia laid out some ingredients and her cooking tools. Soon, the smell of cooking food was in the air along with the whining of a hungry dragon slayer.

Seeing Natsu's brilliant smile that Juvia hasn't seen in two days was really refreshing in contrast to the face of death that Juvia has been seeing. One thing is for sure, Juvia has her jolly dragon slayer back, and his appetite is still as voracious as ever, munching down anything that Juvia cooked up in a heartbeat. While Natsu was eating his food, Juvia was looking at a map that the captain gave Juvia, but Natsu stopped Juvia from reading, saying how it's more fun to find it without any help—mouth still full of food of course.

The wildlife here is just like Levy has said, they look similar to the animals Juvia can find back in Magnolia, some of them have thinner coats. Boars that looks leaner; mice with bigger teeth; butterflies that look more like the local foliage. One thing that wasn't like anything that Juvia has ever seen, was the trees here. One species stood out to Juvia. While the rest was the same kind that you can find anywhere, Juvia spotted a species of tree that she has never seen before, even Natsu that has travelled more than Juvia has never seen it. The leaves were green like usual but, in the middle of the leaf, was a transparent film in the shape of a circle. Since it was pretty, Juvia took a few in hopes to press it into a bookmark as a gift of Levy and Lucy.

The most exciting thing about coming here was that the climate feels like summer back in Magnolia. The warm breeze was calming, full of moisture and not dry, chilling.

After a few minutes of walking, we found half-eaten mushrooms that matches Wilbur-san's description growing by a tree, Natsu commented that there is the scent of boar on the mushrooms and on the tree. At least we know that these mushrooms grow nearby, so we became more vigilant in spotting for fungus. This resulted in Natsu spotting mushroom stems, signs of something being uprooted and more half-eaten fungi.

"Well, it is something that grows only in this time of year, so Juvia is sure that other people are here to harvest them." Juvia picked up the stem of the mushroom Natsu found. "Do you think you can get a scent out of this?"

"No problem." Natsu sniffed the stem several times. "Got it." Natsu then cooked it with him flames and threw the thing into his mouth.

"Natsu! Why did you eat it!?"

"But it smells good," Natsu swallowed the food. "and tastes good. Juvia, you should have some."

"We're on a job Natsu! We'll first secure the five mushrooms first, then if there is any left, Juvia will cook something."

"Then let's get a move on, I smell a couple not far from here." Natsu took the lead, sniffing at minute intervals, becoming more frequent as we got close—according to Natsu.

"Found it!" Natsu pointed to two white mushrooms with sanguine dews growing by a rock. Juvia took out a sack from her bag and pulled out the mushrooms from the stem. Placing them in the sack, Juvia instructed Natsu to continue our hunt.

* * *

The mushrooms that we gathered must have a really strong smell that Juvia can't pick up on, because when Juvia was carrying two, some mice and squirrels were following Juvia. By the time we had three, animals like hedgehogs and foxes were appearing more often. Once we had five, even more animals showed up, and the bigger ones like boars, attacked us. We decided to harvest ten more before finishing up.

The evening sun was already there when Juvia started cooking, Natsu was spit-roasting some of the boar we took down while he was waiting for Juvia to finish. We found a pond the set camp since water is nearby. Since this was Juvia's first time in cooking Summerburn Mushrooms, it took quite a bit of thinking and experimenting before Juvia turned out something that is good. When slicing the Summerburns, the red beads would release some kind of sweet liquid with the consistency of syrup. The meal ended with a full and happy Natsu. Juvia placed the remaining mushrooms in a stasis container to get rid of the scent that it was still emitting. Plus, not worrying about the shrooms decaying is a bonus.

"Should we make a fire? It is getting dark." Natsu turned to face Juvia while still lying on the ground.

"Juvia thinks that's a good idea." Natsu stood up.

"Then, I'll get some wood, I need a good exercise after eating anyways." As Natsu's footsteps gradually faded, the absence of Natsu reminded Juvia what she came here for. Interacting with him really takes a lot out of a person, not to mention when you're trying to focus on finding something all the while looking at the sights of an island that's full of new things really distracted Juvia. Most likely we'll be going back in the morning, so tonight is Juvia's last chance. Maybe Juvia can convince Natsu to stay around for a bit longer to play at the beach, Juvia hasn't used her swimsuit yet, also, Natsu would take any opportunity to not get on transportation. Then Juvia will have a bit more time. Worse comes to worse, Juvia can wait for another time…

* * *

"I'm back!" Natsu cheerfully came into our camp, arms full of bundles of sticks Building fire really is easy with a fire mage; within seconds, Juvia could feel the warmth of a roaring fire. We sat together within arms-reach for a while, talking about the guild, sharing childhood stories—it was mainly Natsu sharing—and making jokes. Night reached us after talking for a long time. We would have kept going if it wasn't for one thing that caught us off guard. The leaves of the strange trees started glowing!

The lights from the leaves didn't really have one colour, they were just about every colour from the rainbow as far as Juvia can tell. And it wasn't a bright glow either, it was a soft one.

"This is amazing!" Natsu grabbed a few twigs from the glowing trees and took a closer look. We noticed that the film was the one that's making the mysterious light, whatever it is, it seems to attract bugs, making them dance in a circle pattern. While all of this as happening, Juvia was thinking of ways confess to Natsu. "Juvia! Look at this!" Natsu pointed at the octagon forming at the middle of the film.

"Natsu…"

"What?"

"Juvia has been meaning to tell you for a while now but…"

"Why are you so serious all of the sudden?" Natsu's face was peering into Juvia's eyes with curiosity. And so close!

"It's no—nothing!" Juvia messed up!

"You sure? You can tell me what's been bothering you for the past week or so."

"How do you know that!?"

"I'm your friend, what kind of friend am I if I didn't notice you've been troubled. If I can help you, I'll do anything that I can."

"Th—then can you—can you…" Juvia can't say it…why!? Juvia had no problems with Gray-san, so why not with Natsu? Juvia bit her lip in frustration, balling her fist to the point of shaking.

"W—what's wrong? Did I do something?"

"Juvia really—" Juvia's throat clogged up again. "Juvia…" Why!? Drops of tears started forming, rolling down Juvia's cheeks once they got big enough.

"If you have problems, you can wait until next time. But first," Natsu took off his scarf and wrapped it around Juvia's neck. "stop crying, will you?" Natsu whispered.

"But—"

"Can I say something first?"

"Ehh?" Natsu wrapped Juvia into a hug, spreading his warmth to Juvia's body. "Na—Natsu?"

"I don't know what's hurting you but, I can try to ease your pain, you suffered for so long. I don't want you to be hurt again." We stayed like this for a long time or what feels like a long time, Juvia couldn't tell, her heart was beating and her face feels hot.

"Hey Juvia."

"Yes?"

"Thanks for being with me. Being on jobs with you has been so much fun."

"Same here."

"Let's keep on going on more adventures like this."

"Gladly…" Natsu released the hug, cooling Juvia's body. A part of Juvia wants to grab onto him and never let go, especially now that Juvia is so close to succeeding.

"Are you better now?"

"Yes…"

"Then, let's go to sleep." No! Not now! Juvia was so close! Whether it was thanks to desperation or because Juvia gained more courage, Juvia threw her whole-body weight onto Natsu, knocking him down to the ground. "Juvia?"

"P—please let Juvia be selfish this one time..."

"What do you mean?" Throwing away all caution and shyness away, Juvia summoned all her courage.

"Juvia loves you!"

"Wha—"

"For all this time! Juvia has been trying to tell you this for so long but failed so many times! This is sudden, a—and you might find Juvia weird…but still—" Natsu crashed his lips to Juvia's! It was light, short. Yet, it was packed more passion than Juvia has ever experienced.

"I told you before, I don't hate weird right? In fact," Natsu buried his head into Juvia's hair. "I love your kind of weird." Natsu loves Juvia…

"T—then"

"Do I really have to say it?" Natsu pecked Juvia's forehead and caressed her head. "I love you." Juvia cuddled against her new boyfriend, feeling his body features; taking in his heat. Feeling bold, Juvia kissed Natsu, with him being more than happy to comply.

"Juvia is glad that she came to this island. Juvia finally has her prince."

"Are you ready to go to sleep then?"

"Can we sleep together?"

"Anything for my princess."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I'm finally getting somewhere with this story, wooo!**

 **Hope I wrote this part well, this is my very first love story, but I know that confessions like these are important in these types of stories, so do let me know how I did, I want to improve after all.**

 **Now, the reasons why I wanted to put this 'arc' on a tropic island is mainly because I wanted to write a chapter revolving around summer, since I'm sure lot's of you guys are on summer vacation. I'm pretty late on this but, expect a summer-y chapter on the next one!**

 **Untill then, hope you enjoyed! I look forward to your feedback!**


	21. Chapter 21: Days of Happiness

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

Juvia woke up in the most comfortable way possible. At first, Juvia doesn't really know why this is, Juvia just assumed that she got in a good posture last night. Then the smell of apple smoke and cooking food entered Juvia's senses. Feeling around, Juvia found parts of her bed that is warmer than others, so she cuddled to the warm spots, sighing in bliss at the new-found heat enveloping Juvia's body. Something gentle brushed Juvia's back along with her hair. It squeezed Juvia's frame tightly, but not hurting her. The longer Juvia stayed like this, the more curious she got. When was Juvia's bed this nice? Finally losing against Juvia's human instinct, Juvia opened her eyes.

Pink.

A mop of pink hair entered Juvia's vision, then Natsu's face slowly solidified into the perfect man complete with wild features like his aforementioned hair or his canine that pokes out of his mouth. That's right, Juvia's wish became true, Natsu is now Juvia's boyfriend. Just thinking of it gives a warm feeling in Juvia's heart. Natsu shuffled beneath Juvia, a tired groan escaped his mouth, and his sharp eyes opened.

"Morn…" Natsu yawned. "…ing."

"Good morning to you, sleepy head."

"What is there to eat?" Natsu said, sleep still having some control over his voice.

"Is that all you think of? What about Juvia?" Juvia intended to get Natsu in a hot-spot and tease him.

"I think about your cooking, is that good enough?" Natsu's response was unexpected, Juvia was hoping for a less smooth answer…how vexing.

"Passable." Juvia got off Natsu's chest and stretched. "Juvia will cook your meal now, any request?"

"Anything filling, I'm starving."

"Juvia understands, it'll take a while though, please take some snacks in Juvia's bag in the meantime." Juvia took out some herbs, spices and other ingredients before going to start a fire with the help of Natsu that was chewing on some jerky. Juvia hummed as she cooked—Juvia is in a good mood after all—sending pleasant cooking into the air, attracting local animals and making Natsu's drool fall on the ground.

"Is it done yet?"

"This is the third time you asked Natsu, no it isn't, you can't just rush cooking and expect it to taste good. Isn't there still some jerky left?"

"I ate them all." While Juvia would've been surprised if this was anyone else but Natsu, Juvia has a good grasp on his appetite by now, so Juvia just sighed and continued with her task.

"Let's head back to the beach now, we still have time, should we play a bit before leaving?" Juvia said while cleaning up the cooking tools.

"Sure! Anything if I don't have to get on that thing, I'll go with anything that you suggest."

"Then hurry up! Juvia wants to wear her swimsuit." Juvia reminded of the tent that Natsu has yet to take down.

"Yeah, yeah."

* * *

Now at the clearing, Juvia left the bags in Natsu's care and went behind a large rock, hands clinging to a light blue bikini.

"Remember, don't peak."

"Got ittt…" Natsu slurred, clearly tired of Juvia's orders. While Juvia was changing, she was thinking of Natsu's reactions to her bikini. From the time that Juvia has known Natsu, he really didn't show much perversion, only a few times, and most of them wasn't directed towards Juvia. What if Natsu doesn't find Juvia attractive? Will he dump Juvia if that's the case? Juvia really doesn't like showing skin, Juvia is starting to have second guesses…

Juvia found Natsu packing a pile of sand into a dome, sticking a twig in the middle and looking cheerfully at his creation.

"Thanks for waiting…" Juvia walked to Natsu with her left arm wrapped around her chest. Natsu just stared at Juvia, not saying anything, making Juvia even more nervous than before. "W—well, d—does it look strange?" More silence. "Juvia will go change back then…"

"Why?"

"You're not saying anything because you don't want to hurt Juvia's feeling right?"

"No, I just don't know what to say."

"Just say it! It hurts not knowing what you're thinking…"

"You're pretty." Juvia's mind drew a blank. "It really suits you, a bit too well."

"T—thank You…"

"What's wrong? You look weird."

"No—nothing! Come on, let's go for a swim." Juvia point to the boat we came from. "The first one to reach the ship and come back again wins."

"What happens if I win?"

"You don't need to worry about that, Juvia will win without a doubt."

"But it's no fun without a reward."

"Fine, the loser will treat the winner to a meal."

"I'm all fired up now!" Juvia made an orb of water.

"When this orb falls to the ground, we go."

"Got it!" Once gravity took hold of Juvia's creation and touched the ground. The two of us dove right into the water, Juvia used her magic to propel her along the water while swimming. Natsu was lagging behind as expected, he was saying how unfair it was to use magic but Juvia ignored him to touch the hull of the boat and began her way back. Just when Juvia crossed paths with Natsu, He grabbed Juvia's leg and pulled Juvia into a bearhug.

"Na—Natsu! Let go!"

"And let you win? No way."

"Then Juvia has no choice." Juvia dissolved her body into water briefly, slipped out of Natsu's grasp and reformed outside of his reach. "You better get swimming Natsu, or you'll have to treat Juvia to a meal!" Juvia sped off again, wanting to prevent the same thing from happening again. Although…Juvia wouldn't mind it under different circumstances…

"Cheater!"

"You agreed to this!" Juvia said while reaching shallow water. "And now you owe Juvia a meal." Natsu came up on shore with an unhappy face. "Don't be like that, it's not like the great fire dragon slayer can't pay a meal for Juvia."

"I was planning to clean you out!" Natsu huffed, folding his arms together, drawing a giggle from Juvia at Natsu's silliness.

"Since you're sulking like this, Juvia will just explore the sea around the island by herself." Juvia held out her hand to invite him but, it seems like he didn't see it, let alone taking it.

"I'm not sulking!"

"Then, grab Juvia's hand."

"Why?"

"Do you want to dive underwater or not?" Natsu took Juvia's hand to which Juvia guided him underwater by using her magic to create a bubble around us, giving us access to a beautiful view of the underwater world.

Since the water was clear, we could see pretty far, schools of fish swam in the distance; corals waved along the currents; light shimmered through the water, lighting up everything in a wonderful green-blue shade. Thousands of aquatic life that Juvia can't identify pasted us, some ignored us, other looked at us with interest.

"Look at that huge fish!" Natsu pointed to a giant purple fish swimming ahead of us. "I wonder if I eat it?"

"Natsu! Don't ruin this moment!"

"I can't help it!"

"Yes you can, stop focusing on your stomach for once."

"Then…" Natsu pulled Juvia's hand, shifting her weight to Natsu's body. He then wrapped Juvia into a warm hug. "you can't complain now, can you?"

"So suddenly!?"

"Sorry Juvia, I've been thinking about these kinds of thing lately, just this morning, you can blame Gildarts for that." Natsu muttered something about Gildarts-san being a perverted old man but, Juvia was too focused on Natsu's arms that was on Juvia's back, his head on Juvia's scruff, his abs pressed against Juvia's navel. It was too stimulating for Juvia to process anything else.

"Umm…err Natsu?"

"Yeah?" Juvia returned the hug, snaking her arms under Natsu's and rubbed his back.

"C—can we stay like this for a bit longer?"

"Sure." Natsu's moved Juvia even closer, giving Juvia an even stronger sense of safety. One of these days, Juvia will be the one the catch him off-guard, and not the other way around.

When we separated, we moved closer to the schools of fish, they generally swam away from us, so we when down to the corals. Corals with bright colours surrounded us, ranging from huge ones the size of humans to tiny ones that can fit in Juvia's palm. Moving to the seafloor, we looked for interesting things that were dropped by other travelers like us. Natsu found a necklace and Juvia picked up a fishing pole, rusted from the years of abandonment. We decided to leave our findings right where we found it, mainly because we have no need for them.

"That was fun!" Natsu grinned as he sat down on the sandy beach after our dive underwater. Juvia joined him and we sat under the bright sun, enjoying each other's company while chatting, drawing plenty of laughter from Juvia's lips. We moved under a tree to make sure we don't get sunburn once Juvia realized Juvia didn't pack anything to deal with it. Juvia leaned against Natsu's shoulder as we talked about how we should announce our new relationship.

"Why don't we just tell them flat-out?"

"It's because Juvia will get bombarded with questions."

"Just answer them all and they'll shut up after a while."

"Easy for you to say, guys aren't as nosy as girls."

"Them do you want to keep it a secret?"

"No! Other girls will try to get close to you, Juvia…doesn't want…that."

"But the girls at the guild aren't interested in me."

"Juvia is talking about the girls we'll encounter during jobs. You really didn't notice the stares some girls were giving you?"

"Nope!"

"Never mind then, Juvia will think about this later, we'll have some food and leave this island."

"B—but that means—"

"Sorry, we have no choice, Juvia will do her best to help you." Natsu's groans echoed throughout the island.

* * *

Natsu was fast asleep in his usual position when travelling, and Juvia was playing with hand-size water dolls, it would dance, do some posing and play with other water dolls. This type of entertainment is something that Juvia would do a lot as a child—and served as unconscious magical training at the same time—doing this again did bring back some sad memories but, the weight of Natsu's head overrode most of it. What would Juvia do without you?

Juvia began to observe Natsu's symptoms when he's motion sick in hopes to help him. He told Juvia that he would first get really dizzy and after that he doesn't really know what happens after that because the 'torture' following was too strong, so it's up to Juvia's eyes for the rest. Natsu would turn pale shortly after his dizziness, then his vomiting would start and it's all downhill from there.

Juvia has discovered that Natsu tends to sleep quicker if Juvia would rub his back as opposed to patting his hair. Of course, knocking him out gets the fastest results, but it hurts—both for Natsu and Juvia—to do something like that so Juvia only did it once and has never done it since.

Waking Natsu up is always a joy, Juvia can get really creative since he's a heavy sleeper. Juvia tried crude things like dropping him to the floor—Juvia was mad at the time—and splashing him with water. It can also range to more fun things like sticking a piece of jerky down his mouth and watch Natsu slowly chew on it as the flavours wake him up. Or pouring the spiciest concoction Juvia could make at the time down his throat—this one is Juvia's favourite. Today, in the spirit of being a good girlfriend, Juvia felt like a gentler approach.

Juvia shook his shoulders while whispering commands in Natsu's ear, blowing in them once that was useless. The tickling of Natsu's ears seems to shake him slightly, so Juvia leaned in closer and tried again, adding in a decision to caress Natsu's cheek. Natsu yawned cutely, stretching in an exaggerated manner.

"Morning Juvia."

"Good morning, it's time for breakfast, Juvia asked for something that you can eat quickly so you can get back to sleep." Juvia held a sandwich to Natsu's mouth. "Open up."

"You're…the best uhh…" After Natsu was done with his meal, Juvia tried to place her hand on Natsu's forehead to see if it helps Natsu in sleeping. It's a bit slower than stroking his hair, so Juvia listed it as the least effective way to make Natsu sleep that's tested so far tested. One day, Juvia _will_ reduce Natsu's pain in the best way possible.

* * *

Juvia gave five Summerburn Mushrooms to Wilbur-san. He examined them with an expert eye, turning to the 'gills' at the bottom, rubbing at the red beads.

"This is some high-quality Summerburn, I can cure my patient with this, Thank You."

"No need to thank us, we are paid to do this, plus we had fun on the island."

"Yeah, don't sweat it pops!"

"Then, it's my turn to keep my side of the bargain." Wilbur-san gave the exact amount to us. "Thank You once again, if possible, may I employ you two again if I have more things to procure?"

"If that's the case, you can hire anyone of our guild, Juvia is sure that we'll be able to fulfill your request regardless who it is."

"I'll follow your advice then."

Another peaceful train ride later, we were finally back home! During this time, Juvia just decided to walk into the guild with Natsu while latching onto his arm. It's the most couple-like thing Juvia could've thought of during the train ride. Much to Natsu's complaints about how hard it is to move, Juvia didn't let go of the right forearm. Natsu wasn't able to kick the door as hard but, it was still hard enough to bang the door open.

"We're back!" Natsu roared. The guild was in the middle of welcoming us back when it stopped abruptly. The noise erupted again, filled with surprise and disbelief, gossip flew across the guild; money was handed over to different owners.

"Congratulations you two!" Lucy came over with a full smile. "Juvia, you finally did it!"

"Yes!"

"Shut up you brats!" Master's voice boomed. "I know that this is shocking news, however, we have still yet to do one thing…party!" Excited cheers ruled the guild, and the party started.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Was the intimacy between Natsu and Juvia a bit too abrupt?**

 **There we go, my summer themed arc, wish I did write a bit more about the warmer climate, but I couldn't really find a good fit.**

 **I also don't have as much things to say this time, except I hope that you enjoyed, and let me know what you think!**


	22. Chapter 22: The Receiving Side

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

Even after four days upon returning from Juvia's job, Juvia still can't believe that Natsu is Juvia's boyfriend. He may not be the most romantic and tactful person in the world but, he's prefect in Juvia's eyes. However, Juvia feels like our relationship hasn't changed much, while we have gotten more intimate with our interactions, holding hands, the occasional hugging, we certainly hang out a lot more than before. However, Juvia feels like our relationship isn't that much different from being best friends.

We haven't done anything past hugging after the…kiss back on the island. While Juvia hasn't really asked for more physical contact, she sure has made plenty of cues towards the dragon slayer. All of them seems to fly above his head, not even noticing them. In fact, he doesn't seem to weigh our relationship very heavily, he would act like normal when he's with Juvia. Somehow his closeness has reduced, Natsu was avoiding Juvia for some reason, he would be talking with his friends and the moment Juvia enters, he always makes some excuse to leave. Juvia offered to follow him but, he shuts Juvia down every time. To be honest, it hurts when that happened. Juvia feels like Natsu has lost interest in her. Yet, at the same time, when we're alone, he's so comforting and silly that it makes Natsu's dodging seem like something Juvia made up in her mind.

Today is the day where Juvia get answers, while Juvia doesn't want to doubt her lover, the fact that he's hiding something from Juvia is something that Juvia can't just let it go by without any questioning. Thus, Juvia is carrying a bundle of anti-magic rope to the guild. Juvia made sure to ask Bisca on how to properly use a lasso to help with the capturing of Natsu Dragneel, to ensure the success of Juvia's plan, Juvia spent the last two days of her free time trying to catch animals, even going as far as using Happy as a target. This maybe extreme but, Juvia _needs_ answers! It's his fault for avoiding Juvia in the first place!

* * *

One problem about Juvia's plan, Juvia forgot about Natsu's sense of smell, so when Juvia showed up at the guild, he wasn't there, Lucy said he ran off somewhere. Juvia has also tried to ask the friends that Natsu has been talking to in hopes of getting some idea, this proved to be fruitless as they all told Juvia to not worry about it and wait for him to explain. They also said it will take a day or two, so Juvia waited before taking action. The waiting resulted in the bundle of rope in Juvia's hands.

"So what's with the rope?" Lucy pointed to the spool in Juvia's hands.

"Juvia was hoping to catch Natsu with this."

"Isn't that going too far!?"

"He's the one that's avoiding Juvia! And the time that we spent together didn't give Juvia any answers! He always changed the subject, or teased Juvia so much until Juvia forgot about it!"

"I understand how you feel but—"

"How would you feel if Gray-san started doing something behind your back!?"

"I mean sure, it would feel uncomfortable but, I'm sure he won't do something like that," Lucy stared menacingly at Gray-san, who was drinking some juice. Seeing his girlfriend's chilling stare, Gray-san jumped. "right?"

"O—of course. T—there no way I would do that." Gray-san said shakily and finished with a few nervous laughs.

"Anyway, do you know where Natsu went?"

"Wh—why don't you calm down and have a drink first?" Lucy offered a mug of hot chocolate.

"Juvia is calm, Juvia is just—"

"Worried about falling out with Natsu right?" Once Lucy hit the nail on the coffin, Juvia's bottled up anxiousness released, drawing a few tears.

"But…what if…he doesn't like Juvia…anymore? Juvia can't recover from another…heartbreak…" Lucy guided Juvia to a seat and pushed the mug to Juvia's hands.

"That won't happen. For one, Natsu is too loyal for that. Also, he still loves you, from the talks that we have, I can say with confidence that Natsu is crazy for you. Also, do you think Natsu is smart enough to do something like an affair or pretend affection?" Lucy laughed at her last remark.

"Juvia supposes not."

"There you go, just wait for a while, I promise that everything will be clear." Juvia took a sip of the warm drink handed to her, cozy liquid ran down Juvia's throat, calming Juvia's nerves, but most of all—

"It's sweet." Juvia drank a mouthful. "This is good."

"Lucy, let's go get lunch!" Gray call out.

"Sure! Juvia, we'll go now, once you've calmed down, why don't you just go to Natsu's house and ask him directly, even he can't from his house, it only has one door. Erza, you want to go with us?"

"If you don't mind we take a detour to a bakery."

"No problem." Now that lunch time is here, some stayed in the guild to eat and enjoy the rowdy atmosphere. Others when outside to go to a quieter place and have a meal. Juvia stayed inside and asked for a simple meal consisting of sandwiches and a bowl of soup.

Despite the loud background noise, Juvia managed to shut them all out, thinking about what to do. Juvia's focus was so strong, even the taste of Juvia's lunch was minimal. Juvia's thinking lasted until evening to which Juvia decided to visit Natsu's house and look for answers, throwing away the rope of course.

* * *

Along the way to Natsu's house, Juvia was rehearsing apologies to say. After thinking about it for a while, Juvia felt guilty for doubting Natsu to the point of trying to catch him. Once Juvia figured out a good apology, Juvia moved to thinking how to get answers from Natsu's mouth. Should Juvia go with a straight approach? Or wait until he's eating then slam the question at his face? This is difficult…

Juvia knocked on the door of Natsu's house, the door is most likely open, Natsu never locks the door. No one besides guild members even knows that there is a house out here. Seeing no response, Juvia called out to Natsu. Nothing. Is he out? Then Juvia can wait for him to return to a cooked meal. Juvia opened the door and walked into the kitchen. The table was already filled with food! Lots of it are food that Juvia likes eating and not much of Natsu's favorite foods. Natsu was sitting beside the table, holding a beautiful blueberry cake.

"Happy birthday Juvia!"

"Happy Birthday!" An amalgamation of voices echoed Natsu's words, all of Juvia's friend appeared out of nowhere, all of them holding a wrapped present in their hands. One present that caught Juvia's eye was Bisca that was holding Asuka-chan that was holding a present, how cute.

"So all this time, Natsu was—"

"Yes! Why did you think we told you to calm down?" Cana said.

"S—sorry for deceiving you!" Wendy bowed. "Natsu said he wanted a surprise so he told all of us to keep it a secret."

"But Juvia has never told her birthday to Natsu, only to Gray-san because Juvia wanted to—you told him!?" Gray-san winked while tossing his present up and down—still shirtless.

"I figured you would be too overwhelmed with flame brain and fawn over him to tell him of your birthday, so I did it."

"That's true, even Juvia forgot about her birthday."

"Anyway, let's start the party already!" Lisanna and Levy pulled Juvia to the birthday cake that was lit with Natsu's flames. "Make a wish!" Lisanna ushered. Juvia was at a loss, there really isn't anything that Juvia wants, Juvia has it already, a lover, great friends, all that Juvia missed out on in her childhood. To have healthy childr—no that's rushing things! Juvia stood there for a good few seconds before deciding on a good wish. Juvia wants to stay with Natsu. Thinking of her wish, Juvia blew the flames out.

"Now let's eat! I'm hungry!" Gajeel already had an empty bowl in his hands.

"Not before Juvia touches the food first!" Natsu butted heads with Gajeel. For Natsu to suppress his needs for Juvia, that surprised Juvia the most.

"You don't have to do all that for Juvia, Juvia is happy with you just controlling your hunger for once."

"You sure?"

"Yes! It's Juvia's fault for not trusting you."

"What did you do?"

"Juvia thought that you were doing something bad behind Juvia's back."

"I mean, I was selfish and wanted a surprise."

"For flame brain to know that he's being selfish. Juvia, what did you do to him?".

"What are you trying to say!?"

"You're a dumbass! What else?" Before a fight started, Erza's hands shot out and grabbed the two by the necks, like a lioness picking up her child by the scruff, only without the affection.

"This is Juvia's birthday, I won't let you two ruin it!"

"Aye sir!" "Yes, ma'am!"

"Natsu is copying me!" Happy was munching on a plate of fish, disregarding what Natsu had said.

"Since Happy already started, why don't we start the party?" Mira suggested.

"Yes!" With Juvia's word, the party started, Natsu and Gajeel was having an eating contest; Juvia was opening her presents, she first picked up a present from Levy, it was most likely a book, the shape and the weight of it was more than enough clues to go by. Tearing apart the checked pink wrapping paper, a book titled _Morning Dew_ showed up.

"This is?"

"It's one of my favorite books, the author is Michael Green, and he's known for crafting—" Lisanna came from behind and cupped Levy's mouth.

"W—why don't you open my present next?" Lisanna handed Juvia a brown paper bag that was taped off. After undoing the bond, Juvia pulled out a pair of panda oven mittens. "You said that you wanted to bake more often, right? I hope you like it."

"Thank You so much!"

"Next it's my turn." Erza announced with authority, which was a bit strange considering the situation but, Juvia picked up the most classic depiction of a present, it was a blue box wrapped with a green ribbon. Though classic, it does its job in maintaining a sense of mystery, so Juvia eagerly got into what's behind the wrapping. A black backpack appeared once Juvia lifted the lid off the box. "I use the same type when I don't have as much leeway for luggage, so I can guarantee the quality of it."

"Thank You, Juvia will be sure to make use of it."

"Good to know."

"Then I guess it's my turn!" Cana stumbled to our group. She handed a bottle of whiskey to Juvia. "Enjoy it slowly, this was hard to get you know?"

"Thank You…"

"Cana!" Levy shouted. "You didn't even wrap it!? How drunk were you before you came here?"

"Buuut, what's the point of wrapping it if Juvia already knows what it is?"

"At least it looks like you put thought into it!"

"Who cares? We're friends, Juvia already knows what I'm—"

"Umm…" Wendy's voice squeezed into our group. "may I give my present now?"

"Wendy! You don't have to be so reserved."

"B—but Carla, what if—"

"Carla is right Wendy, you can be less reserved. Juvia doesn't mind, and everyone else is the same."

"Then…here you go." Wendy gave Juvia a rectangular box adorned with branches that wrapped around the vessel. Opening it, three carefully crafted glass bottles depicting a forest scene rested gently. Inside, was a thick, semi-transparent, purple liquid. They gave off a slight glow that was curious. What kind of enchantment is this?

"What are these? More importantly, these look really expensive, are you sure you want to give them to Juvia?"

"About that…these are something I made myself, the potions of course, not the bottles. These are something that can cure most sickness."

"Could this be made with Summerburn Mushrooms?"

"H—how did you know?"

"That's the job Juvia and Natsu took, that's how we know of it."

"I see…" Wendy had a disappointed face,

"Y—you're wrong! Juvia likes it very much!" Wendy gave Juvia a bright smile.

"I hope that you don't have to use it! I made it as a decoration if that's the case." Asuka-chan came running up to Juvia's leg holding the small box Juvia saw before, mouth still having some brown sauce on it.

"Honey, you have sauce on your mouth." Bisca came with a napkin and wiped away the residue. Bisca was carrying something that Juvia was not expected, a pelt of an animal that Juvia can't identify. Whatever it was, the pelt was stunning, rich red stripes on top of orange fur.

"This is something we hunted not too long ago, it had a lovely fur, so I figured that this would make for a great gift. However, you need to care for stuff like this, or the weather will get to it."

"Thank you, Juvia will take care of it." Juvia felt a soft poke on Juvia's shin.

"Here!" Juvia took the cute purple box from Asuka-chan's hands. "I made it with mama and papa." She said her words carefully, then smiled proudly at her own work. Juvia opened the box and got a bracelet made up of wood beads. It wasn't colourful or anything, just the same pine wood throughout. Juvia put it on her left hand.

"Does it look good?"

"Yup!" Asuka-chan ran back to her mom and the two join Alzack-san in his meal.

"Now it's finally my turn!" Mira came in and gave Juvia a soft, fabric-like material wrapped in red paper decorated with teddy bears. "Tada!" Juvia unraveled the packaging and a black dress unfurled—the dress strangely looked like it matched Juvia's dimensions perfectly. It had no sleeves, or straps, the dress flowed smoothly down and ended with a frill finish.

"Juvia likes this but, how did you get Juvia's—"

"I found out what store you modeled for with Natsu." Mira winked at Juvia before returning to the kitchen. Juvia then picked up the sound of the stove turning on, did Natsu really eat that much already?

"Come on Salamander, you're the only one that hasn't given Juvia a present, don't tell me you forgot about it after organizing this party? Maybe you ran out of brain cells or something."

"Aye! Natsu is stupid after all!"

"I'm gonna kill you guys!"

"Bring it! I haven't gotten back at you for dumping me on that cart ride."

"I did that?"

"You're asking for it!"

"Boys, don't start a fight yet, Juvia hasn't receive a present form Natsu yet," Lisanna stopped the fighting. "what if it gets damaged?"

"Like I'll get hit from this guy." Gajeel punched Natsu's face in response.

"Gi hi, what was that?"

"A cheap shot ya bastard, try that again when I'm pay attention!"

"Natsu!" Lisanna chided.

"I know, I know." Natsu fished into his pockets and pulled out a necklace. It was the same seed that we got from our first job together, only that a dragon coiled around it, as if protecting it. "Happy birthday." Natsu walked over to Juvia and looped the necklace around Juvia's neck. To finish it off, Natsu gave a quick peck on Juvia's cheeks. "Sorry to worry you." At this point, Juvia wants to hug and kiss Natsu, the crowd stopped Juvia from doing so. However, Juvia's face is most likely red, steam was coming off Juvia's head. Can you blame Juvia? Natsu really knows how to push Juvia's buttons.

"Thanks for the gift, Juvia will cherish it." Maybe Juvia is more romantic than Juvia originally thought.

But most of all, Juvia will cherish you more than anything given to Juvia today. After all, you are the most precious thing in the entire world. You are Juvia's third chance and hopefully, Juvia's prince.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Anyone else feels like the lasso was a bit too much? I like the comedy it provided so I kept it, let me know what you think!**

 **The thing about this chapter about Juvia's birthday as a bit tricky, it's on the 13th of Nov, so I had to calculate all the time skips starting from Harvest festival 15th of October just to validate this one chapter. If I made a mistake in the calculations, please tell me and I'll make the days align. I got all this information from the wikia, so if it's wrong, forgive me.**

 **Yeah, this is like the time when I stuffed tissue paper in my mouth and said 'but I'm hungry' for the words Natsu said with his mouth full a while back just so that I can have a more accurate wording on the dialogue.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed, still looking for that juicy feedback, I seem to be in a dryspell. And I bet if you look back into my previous chapters starting from chapter 18, you will find that my wordings in asking for more feedback is getting more desperate.**

 **See you guys in the next chapter!**


	23. Chapter 23: The Hunt For Decor

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

 **I talk about some things I found interesting in the reviews, so it's way longer than usual.**

* * *

Juvia has come to realise that her room looks strange; it doesn't have a coherent theme. On the floor, an animal pelt lay at the centre of Juvia's room. By her nightstand, the picture of Juvia and Natsu was placed in front of the three bottles Wendy gave Juvia. Lying by the couch, the painting Juvia bought still isn't hanged. Even Natsu's house has a better theme than Juvia's, displaying trinkets of his adventures is a neat idea that Juvia loves to see every time that Juvia comes to his house, slowly seeing it expand as he accumulates memories with his family.

This cannot do! Juvia needs some more decoration! To be perfectly honest, Juvia misses having a doll to hug when Juvia's sleeping. However, 'Chibi Gray' was torn apart by Erza's blades, ever since, Juvia's bed is in need of company. So, Juvia rummaged through her sewing kit and spare yawn only to find, nothing but Gray-san's colours. At least Gray-san and Natsu's skin looks the same, so Juvia only has, white, black and tan to work with. Time to see what the market has to offer!

Juvia picked and bought all the shades of pink, as well as a lighter shade of brown. A washed-out palette of Natsu should give a doll version of him a gentler look, something that he mainly shows to Juvia. If it turned out wrong, Juvia always has the option of making a more accurate mini Natsu. Then Juvia bought the remaining colours need to knit both a washed-out Natsu, and a normal Natsu. It's been a while since Juvia was excited to return home.

Juvia spent the first thirty minutes or so using her water dolls make different kinds of poses, sitting down with the arms held out, in a T-pose, arms and legs pointing to the ground, just about every single pose suitable for an Exceed-size doll. Juvia settled for the first one since it can support itself and Juvia thinks it's cuter. Without any more hesitation, Juvia started to work on her big project, starting with the paler Natsu.

Since it has been a while since Juvia knitted something, Juvia forgot the time needed for these kinds of things. It took Juvia three days of continuous working to complete the doll, something only for meals and drinking water. At one point, Juvia's guildmates even check up on her make sure nothing bad has happened. They ended up walking into a floor full of yarn pieces and knitting equipment. Along the way, Juvia decided to not to make Natsu's scarf and opted for using Natsu's neck as a place where Juvia can store and display her scarfs. Plus, it gives Juvia an idea on what Natsu would look like with a different scarf on.

Those three days were tough but, Juvia can finally see the fruits of her labour! After wrapping a simple white scarf to match his original look as much as possible, Juvia loves the doll, there is no need to make another one. As expected, the less saturated colour was easier on the eyes, giving 'Chibi Natsu' a cuter look. After revelling in Juvia's success, a wave of guilty washed over her…Juvia hasn't seen Natsu in three days! What will he think of Juvia!? Juvia is a failure of a girlfriend! With panic quickly controlling Juvia's body, Juvia burst out of her room and ran to Natsu's place, not realising it's only six in the morning.

* * *

By the time Juvia made it to Natsu's house, Juvia was out of breath, her chest was screaming in agony, legs were sore—possibly cramping—sweat was dripping from Juvia's chin. Making two weak knocks on the door, Juvia pushed her whole-body weight to the door, stumbling in. Juvia crawled upstairs were Natsu's hammock is, each step hurt not physically, though it did make Juvia wince throughout the ordeal. Juvia's heart was stinging. Maybe Juvia should learn to have trust in Natsu but, after all this time, Juvia has finally found someone that loves her, it feels new, warm. Yet, at the same time, Juvia feels like even the smallest bump would destroy everything.

Natsu's room didn't change aside from the chair that Juvia made him get, He was still sleeping, letting Juvia breathe a sigh of relief. Sitting on the chair, Juvia intended on waiting until Natsu woke up which at this point may take three hours judging from the sky. However, the abuse to Juvia's body made her powerless to resist sleeping on the chair. Sorry Natsu…for everything…

Juvia was pleased to find out that Juvia didn't sit while she slept, instead, she was laying prone, wrapped in the comfiest blanket ever. It was one that Juvia knew well. At the same time, Juvia couldn't believe that she's covered in Natsu's body heat again. Being even more selfish, Juvia buried deeper in Natsu's warmth, intertwining her legs with Natsu's and snaking one arm around his collar, the other, around his arm that was resting delicately on Juvia's hair. Natsu complied with Juvia's request and pulled Juvia into an even tighter hug than before. Bliss expelled all the guilt Juvia had, replacing it with happiness.

"Natsu…" Juvia whispered, not intending for him to hear. "Juvia is sorry." Natsu stirred a bit. How!? He should be in deep sleep!

"Can you repeat that for me?" Natsu asked, eyes still closed.

"Juvia…Juvia is sorry."

"What for?"

"For not seeing you for three days even though Juvia is in town."

"Is that all? You came here without care for your own health just for that?"

"What do you mean 'just for that'? Juvia is very—"

"You shouldn't hurt yourself over that!" Natsu raised his voice suddenly, staring right into Juvia's eyes sternly. Natsu didn't even care about Happy that was sleeping close to us.

"B—but—"

"Whatever you think you did that hurt me, knowing that you're in this state because of me hurts way more!" Natsu finished with a slight growl which, scared Juvia slightly.

"Juvia d—didn't mean to…" Natsu's eyes then softened, he stroked Juvia's hair.

"I'm not so weak as to start panicking just because I haven't seen you in a while…because," Natsu's hand placed a hand on Juvia's head, brought it close, then kissed Juvia's forehead. "I can feel you being with me, no matter where you actually are." Natsu guided Juvia's head to his chest, where his heart is. "Right here." He pushed Juvia's head tenderly. Natsu's heartbeat was calm, not speeding up or slowing down, the drumming of it mellowed Juvia's chaotic feelings.

"Thank You."

"That's not going to cut it this time."

"Huh?"

"Promise me you won't do that again."

"But Juvia—"

"You don't trust me that much?"

"It's not that!"

"Then promise me, you won't hurt yourself because of me."

"Juvia promises."

"Good. If you break it, you'll have to do a photoshoot in a bikini." Natsu's cheeky smile appeared.

"Y—you didn't say that before!" How outrageous! He has no right to do that to Juv—

"Consider it punishment for this time."

"That's not fair!"

"It's a punishment! Not a game!" Around this time was when Juvia thinks that Happy has flown downstairs to sleep.

"Since when did you become so smart!?"

"Doesn't matter! Just accept it!"

"Fine…Juvia will do the photoshoot if she breaks the promise. Juvia just has to not break it, then Juvia will be fine."

"You think I want people staring at your body? Of course not! You better not break it because you're mine!" Juvia's brain blew up at those words. Juvia is Natsu's…Juvia is Natsu's. Juvia is… "My bad, I get worked up when you're involved, I just don't want some random asshole staring at you with those eyes." Who knew that Natsu could be so possessive? But, Juvia doesn't mind this kind of Natsu either…

"T—then, do you stare at Juvia like that?" Natsu sighed and turned his eyesight away from Juvia.

"I try not to…it's really hard when you look so beautiful…" Seeing the opportunity to be on the offensive, Juvia took it like a bird seizing a golden moment.

"Which part of Juvia do you find the most beautiful then?"

"There's no way I can answer that!"

"Just try. No wait, let Juvia guess. Is it her breast?"

"No."

"B—butt?"

"Not even close." Natsu isn't a breast person or a butt person, then how about…

"Legs?"

"It's your eyes alright!?"

"Juvia's…eyes?"

"Right, I could get lost in them forever."

"T—thank You…" Juvia started to play with her hair bashfully. "what about the things Juvia listed?"

"It's obvious that they're sexy isn't it?" Natsu replied blankly. And Juvia's mind blanked once more.

* * *

When Juvia came back home, it was in the afternoon, everyone is eating while Juvia is still not happy with the plain look in her room. Especially the walls, she really needs a painting of some sort, the horse just won't do! It has no place in Juvia's room. Juvia will donate it to Fairy Hills later, after she visits Reedus-san. And Juvia has the perfect painting in mind.

"You want a painting with all your friends?" Reedus-san said, painting a picture that someone else commissioned.

"Yes!"

"Oui! I'll have it delivered to you by this week." He wrote some words down on a notepad and got back to his piece of art.

"Thank You so much!"

"No need to thank me, I'm being paid for it after all. Painting wholesome scene are something I enjoy, I welcome it all the time." Now that Juvia's room won't look as dull, in a few days' time, Juvia happily left Reedus-san's workshop.

The painting arrived at Juvia's door after four days, wrapped in brown paper. Juvia carefully tore the packaging open, avoiding damage to the painting Juvia just got. It was perfect! All of us were having a barbeque by a lake, Natsu was stuffing his face with food as Mira kept supplying them, Juvia was sitting beside him, wiping away the sauce on his mouth. Lucy was playing at the lake with Levy and Lisanna. Erza had Gray-san in her grasp, a destroyed cake splattered on the ground. Elfman and Gajeel was having an arm-wrestle on a tree stump. In the back ground, Bisca's family was enjoying the cool lake water. More members gathered and formed groups, having a great time.

Juvia's heart warmed at the sight of the picture. She hanged it on the wall that's facing the couch, admiring it for a good while before finally going to the guild. The atmosphere of the guild is still as lovely, it almost seems like a raging fire that never dies down. Funny enough, a fight hasn't started yet, and Natsu has been in the guild for at least an hour.

"Hey Juvia!" Natsu called out, sitting in between his team. Once Juvia came to their table, Natsu started talking again. "We're planning to go to a hot spring next week, Mira, Lisanna, Elfman, and…Lucy, who else is coming?"

"Cana, Gajeel, Levy, just about everyone, you know, Wendy, Bisca and her family ahh, I can't come up with the whole list!…oh yeah! People from other guilds are coming as well! Originally, Gildarts was coming but Cana said that his magic will get us in trouble." Juvia can easily imagine Gildarts-san blowing up the wall and 'accidently' merge the two baths.

"What's the occasion?" Juvia really needs to know why there is so many people coming to a hot spring trip.

"Apparently, everyone just wants to have fun and build friendships with each other."

"What guilds are coming?"

"Saber Tooth, Lamia Scale Erza stopped Blue Pegasus from joining so…that's it."

"What about Mermaid Heel?"

"Ah that, they said they have to do something."

"Never mind that, Juvia, let's go!" Natsu cuts in. "It'll be fun!"

"Juvia doesn't really have anything to do next week also…" Juvia wants to be in a hot spring with Natsu…

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"No—nothing! Juvia will go!"

"Great!"

"Where is the hot spring?" Natsu's face paled after Juvia question, he's being motion sick just from thinking about it!

"W—well, it's pretty far from here, about one and a half days on a train. In a place called Pyfer." Lucy provided. Juvia has never heard of the place but, that doesn't matter! Juvia will spend as much time as possible with Natsu!

Clothes, cleaning essentials, motion sickness medicine that Juvia found in the market, annnd do—Juvia's eye caught hold of a set of underwear, one that Juvia bought to seduce Gray-san—a black lingerie to be accurate. Should Juvia? No! It's too embarrassing! A—also we're not alone, what if the others find out about this? But, it's a chance to show Natsu…What should Juvia do!? Juvia won't bring it…

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I think it's about time to get rid of Juvia's insecurities about her relationship, so here it is! Sorry for the shorter chapter though.**

 **Expect bigger time jumps like months and not weeks anymore, I do need to wrap this story up soon. I want to write about other stuff. Also, a Christmas Chapter won't be published on Christmas. Blame me for setting up the story in Autumn.**

 **Someone on the reviews section commented on how I should write in Natsu's point of view. While it might be fun to do so, I won't, mainly because I think great stories can happen without jumping from character to character(doesn't mean I think my story is good) _The Curious Case of The Dog In The Night-time_ by Mark Haddon for example. Also, I will only write in Juvia's point of view because there is a certain narrative I want to tell. The stories that jump from person to person without giving it any thought, in my opinion, doesn't really do anything for it.**

 **Keep in mind that this story(and the future ones) are for me to learn about writing while getting feedback from you guys, I found that the effects of self-improvement isn't as good as it used to be. To make sure that I'm learning properly, I want to isolate as much factors as possible, and changing characters goes against that.**

 **If I sounded pretentious in this note, I apologise, I want to explain properly. If there is other things that you guys find strange, do let me know, I want to make this story at good as possible. Thanks for understanding!**

 **Also, since I'm addressing some things I found in the reviews, I might as well, there is one person that says to marry Juvia and Natsu already, that's jumping way too many steps! Do you mind telling me what do you have against Gray? I don't think I made him a cruel character.**


	24. Chapter 24: Chaotic Crashing

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

"Natsu really is comfortable around you." Lucy commented about Natsu sleeping on Juvia's lap. Meanwhile Erza was looking at Juvia with a competitive eye. She held her hand out.

"Hand him over, I won't lose!" Juvia pressed Natsu deeper into Juvia's lap, staring squarely back at Erza.

"Juvia refuses! This is the one thing Juvia won't hand over!"

"Is that so? Then I have no choice." Erza folded her arms in surrender. A feeling of success welled in Juvia's heart. Levy was comforting Gajeel by rubbing his back and holding a sick bucket for him.

"This trip should be fun, there's so many people coming!" Lucy pointed out.

"When will they arrive?" Gray asked.

"We planned to gather at the inn, Mira and I already booked the rooms beforehand."

"How long have you two been planning this? It shouldn't be easy to coordinate with other guilds." Levy asked, rubbing Gajeel's back in a circular motion.

"Well, a few months, ever since we came back from the Grand Magic Games."

"Wow!"

"We wanted to build good relationships with other guilds."

"I can't wait!"

The sounds of two windows being smashed open invoked Erza's wrath. She followed after the two perpetrators and before long, two groveling dragon slayers were being lectured by a red demon.

"Natsu! Gajeel! Show some self-restraint! Do you have any idea how much—" Natsu was looking at Juvia hopefully. Juvia had to look away, afraid that the pleading eyes would tug at Juvia's heartstrings even more than they already have.

"Traitor…" He mumbled. Juvia is sorry Natsu…Juvia can't help you here, please forgive this girlfriend of yours…

"Natsu!"

"Y—yes!?"

"Gajeel!"

"W—what!?"

"Don't! Ever do that again!"

"Aye sir!" "Ye—yeah…"

"Good. Now, let's go find the inn. Mira, lead the way." As we walked, Juvia was tending to Natsu's wounds while trying to check out the town. From what Juvia can gather, this place is mainly a tourist spot, with stores selling local foods and crafts, signs were place at fountains and statues, explaining their origins or significant meaning they have. Of course, houses exist, they were made of stone, small and homey.

Our trek led us up a rocky hill, with a pronounced pathway from the countless tourists. Little plants were around, a couple bunches of weeds here and there, one or two kinds of flowers, white and yellow.

"Here we are." Mira gestured to a large building with three stories, each complete with a balcony for every room. At the back, Juvia can see walls made of tree trunks, forming a circle. Another ring was made with large rocks. Juvia's excitement rose with each step we took. How long has it been since Juvia has been in a hot spring?

"How come I don't see much people around? Is this place bad?" Erza asked.

"No, we just booked the entire place."

"What!?" Levy dropped her bags. "Isn't that going too far?"

"Of course not! We don't innocent people to get caught."

"In what?"

"Do you trust Natsu to not pick a fight with people from the other guilds?"

"I guess that's true…"

"Hey! I can control myself!"

"Natsu…" Happy sat on Natsu's head. "I think you should stop lying."

"What was that!?"

"See! You're already picking a fight with me."

"Doesn't count!"

"Yes, it does!"

"No, it doesn't!"

"Enough!" Erza roared. "What's done is done, let's just go in."

"A—aye!" "Aye sir!" When we reached the front door made of glass, a flying vehicle in the shape of a ship started to decent. Erza's face paled seeing the horse ornament at the front of the ship.

"Myyy Honeyyy!" A strange object dove from the ship, leaving behind an orange blur. That same object suddenly took a ninety degree turn as Erza slammed it as hard as she could. Erza summoned a spear and pointed it at Ichiya, who was planted in the ground.

"Why are you here!? I thought I got rid of you."

"M—men…" Ichiya pulled himself out of the crater he was stuck in. He jumped out of it and did his gro—signature pose. "I came to see you, my honey. I know, that even though you told me to leave, that's just your way of saying that you want me here." He started to shimmy closer to Erza, and she responded by backing away and assumed a battle stance with her spear.

"Sta—stay away!"

"That's right master, you should respect Erza-san's personal space." Three handsome people came down from the airship. It took no time at all to recognize 'The Trimen' of Blue Pegasus. The instant their foot touched the ground, they scattered and bombarded some of us—only girls—with pick-up lines and offering flowers to us. Hibiki-san pulled Juvia to a couch that came out of nowhere and placed an arm around Juvia's shoulder. Juvia was about to blast him away when an eagle made of ice beat Juvia to it.

"Are you okay Juvia?" Lyon-san took Juvia's hand. "I'm glad we decided to come early." A healthy blush decorated Lyon-san face as he pulled Juvia away from the couch and Hibiki-san that was being scolded by Jenny-san. "After we check in…d—do you want to have a drink with…with m—" A fiery hand punched Lyon-san away, sending him right to ground.

"Get away from her ya bastard!" Natsu growled, putting himself between Lyon-san and Juvia.

"I suggest you get out of my way!" Lyon-san formed a dragon and two gorillas behind him. Juvia overheard Happy saying something about Natsu picking a fight already.

"Why should I let some creep touch what's mine!?"

"Wha—what do you mean!?" Lyon-san looked at Juvia for explanations.

"Juvia and Natsu are in a…relationship."

"Ho—how could this be?" Lyon-san slumped to the ground, a petite girl with pink hair got to Lyon-san's level and comforted him. With that trouble out of the way, Juvia realized that the three stooges along with Ichiya were getting beaten up.

"Enough!" A bald man with a long beard walked into scene, releasing an impressive amount of magic, Jura-san. "We're here to relax, not cause injuries." As he was saying that, Wendy and Sherria-san ran around, healing the victims of the massacre. Grumbles from Natsu and Gray reached Juvia's ears.

Well, let's sign in!" Mira said, ignoring the tense atmosphere of the groups. Mira pushed open the doors and headed to the reception.

"Ahh, I'll go with you!" Lucy ran after Mira. Leaving Jura-san so sort out the mess. Once Ichiya was unable to move, Erza helped out with calming down the aggression

"But still, what do we do with these…intruders." Erza tapped the ground with her spear. "I don't think there's enough room in the inn. Regrettably, they don't seem to be willing to leave."

"From what I heard, when the inn was booked, it was intended for all guilds to stay, meaning Mermaid Heel and Blue Pegasus can also fit in." Jura stroked his beard.

"How inconvenient." Erza coldly remarked.

"Sorry we're late!" Sting-san waved at us, smiling brightly. Behind him, were the members of Saber Tooth.

"No need to worry, we've just checked in."

"But, judging from the mess around you guys," Sting-san pointed to the crater. "I thought you've been here for a while."

"No, that's just some…unforeseen circumstances."

"I see." Sting-san walked over to Natsu. "Natsu-san! You want have a drink with me later?"

"I don't know, depends if have something to do."

"Well, give me a call if you're free!"

"Everyone!" Mira called out from the inn. "Me and Lucy just checked in, there's still some time before dinner is served so, you can have some fun in the town, just remember to drop off your luggage first!

"About the rooms, I have the keys with me, you can pick whatever room you want, just give me a call. Also, girls and boys can be in the same room _if_ both parties agree to it. Remember, don't do something too stimulating or Erza will be after you! Any questions?" A wave of silence. "Then, dismissed." Natsu pulled Juvia along at wick speeds.

"Let's get a room quick and explore the town!"

"Na—Natsu! Too fast!" Juvia's feet barely had any contact time, it was almost to the point of flying just from Natsu's running.

"Sorry but, I want to have fun quick!" Natsu zipped up the stairs and kept searching the rooms. He eventually found one of the biggest rooms, tossed both of our bags inside and rushed back down to find Mira. Natsu told Juvia to wait for him outside while he goes to lock the doors. Juvia did as told, expecting the wait to be quick. What Juvia didn't expect was Natsu jumping off from the balcony to meet Juvia. Embarrassing, seeing how Natsu is Juvia's boyfriend for a while.

"Are you done?" Natsu responded with a dazzling smile.

"Yup!"

"Then, hurry up!" Juvia waited until Natsu was beside her before clinging to his arm.

"I told you it's hard to move like this!"

"But you don't mind it right?" Juvia was feeling a bit cheeky. Natsu turned away and scratched his head.

"No…I don't."

"Don't complain then."

"Fine."

"Where do you want to go?"

"To find some food."

"Juvia shouldn't have asked."

"I lost my lunch in the hell ride!"

"Lead the way." Natsu's nose became active, sniffing the air for a few seconds. "Got it."

"Juvia wants to start sightseeing soon, please hurry up."

"I got it."

"If not, Juvia is limiting how much food you can buy."

"That's cruel!"

"Juvia bets you left your money at the room, so Juvia is in control."

"That's not true." Natsu patted his pockets, becoming more desperate as time went on. He hung his head in shame while Juvia tossed her head up, basking in the glory of victory.

"Just hurry up and nothing bad will happen."

"You promise?" He looked at Juvia with sad eyes. That's cheating! Juvia can't go against that! Then again, when has Juvia ever resisted Natsu?

"Yes."

"Follow me!" Natsu's vigor returned, grin adorned over his face.

* * *

Juvia enjoyed the local food, she didn't touch the roasted rats or the Velfer eggs, the adults don't look appetizing, so she refrained from trying the eggs, Natsu eat them. Judging from his reactions, Juvia is glad that she didn't eat any. Now that Natsu's stomach is happy, it's time to make us happy. We checked out the town, the friendly people, mountainous scenery, the quirky animals: a lizard with an arm for a tail, a butterfly the size of Juvia's palm, a large elephant with a horn in the middle.

We took time to hike up a mountain, Juvia pressed her body as close to Natsu as possible while doing so. The feeling of Natsu's warmth never got old, from the time Juvi first experienced it to now.

"Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being in Juvia's life."

"What's with you all of the sudden?"

"It's nothing, Juvia was thinking about what Natsu has done for Juvia."

"That's not all right?" Natsu's face held a face of wisdom that he shows rarely, it held understanding and a bit of mystery.

"The truth is, when Juvia was a child and saw her magic as a curse, she could only stay inside because whenever she went outside, it would rain harder. So Juvia spent a lot time story books, most of them were stories about a princess being in trouble, locked in a tower, offered to a dragon, cursed with loneliness. The last one related with Juvia a lot. That's why Juvia has, for all this time tried to find someone to free her from this curse.

"When a prince arrived to save that princess, Juvia wanted the same. Juvia wanted to find someone to take away her curse. But, her first try with Bora didn't end well, he couldn't handle the constant rain. So when Gray made Juvia see the sun for the first time, Juvia thought that he was the one. And now, there isn't a shred of doubt in Juvia's mind that, you are the one Natsu. Thank You for being in Juvia's life."

"It's not just me, everyone else helped out too, as much as hate to admit it."

"But you're the most special one out of them all." Juvia wrapped her arms around Natsu and pecked him on the cheeks

"You've really been doing that a lot more lately."

"And you never returned them." Juvia put disappointment in her voice, hoping it would move him, pouting a bit.

"I don't need to do that to say I love you." Natsu pulled Juvia in close. "I think we should get back now."

"Yes…"

* * *

The dinner was great, the food was delicious. Surprisingly, no one started a fight, laughs and smiles were all around the hall. More importantly, Juvia got to feed Natsu! He wasn't very happy about it because it was much slower than just eating normally. However, Juvia was in paradise! Being so close to him and tending to his needs. Although lots of people was staring at us, Juvia couldn't care less right now, Juvia is so happy! After the lovely dinner, it was time for the main event, soaking in a hot spring. Though Juvia isn't elated about showing so much skin to people, the fact that it's been so long since Juvia took a soak override Juvia's concerns.

Thankfully, there wasn't a mixed bath, or Ichiya and his companions would be suffering something worse than hell, especially with Erza being so high-strung from Ichiya's advancement during dinner, Juvia feeld like instead of relaxing, Erza is undergoing extreme stress, maybe we should help her out. Reading the other girl's faces, they have the same intention.

Erza seem to be looking forward for the hot spring to loosen up. She opened the door to the hot spring.

"Heya Er-chan! Feeling spiffy?"

"Millianna! What are you doing here?"

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I need change one tiny detail in the previous chapter but, you don't have to worry about it, I just made the story a bit more consistent.**

 **Don't have anything to say today, just hoped that you enjoyed, and if you don't mind please let me know what you think of it!**


	25. Chapter 25: Heating Up

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

Hearing Erza's voice of shock, Juvia hurried and grabbed her towel and walked to the spring area. Juvia didn't noticed the walls of rock first, now was it the beautiful full-moon view in the sky, it was several of the Mermaid Heel members already soaking in the hot spring.

"I thought that you said you had something to do." Erza said while washing her body. Juvia was lathering shampoo on her hair.

"Sorry Er-chan, we lied, we just wanted to give you a surprise."

"A welcome one! Sadly, I can't say the same about Blue Pegasus." Juvia dipped her toes in the water. After confirming that the temperature was perfect, Juvia sunk into the warm water without hesitation. Warmth entered Juvia's body, if Juvia has to describe it, this warmth was the closest to Natsu's, only with water added to it. Juvia could feel the hidden stress—that Juvia didn't even know existed—disappear as the water eroded it bit by bit. This truly is paradise…

Juvia then felt a soft tap on her shoulders. Turning around, Sherria-san was giving Juvia an apologetic look.

"Sorry Juvia, I may have caused trouble for you."

"What did you do that warrants an apology?"

"Well you see, after you and Natsu went to get a room, I was still comforting Lyon, he still couldn't get over the fact that you and Natsu are dating."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Sorry!" Sherria-san clapped her hands in front of her face. "I think Lyon took what I said the wrong way. I started by saying 'It'll be okay Lyon, cheer up.'

" 'I worked so hard to win her heart.'

" 'Well, there's always next time.'

" 'Next time?'

" 'Yeah! If you find someone that you love, you should go after her with all your might, I'll be rooting for you in your next attempt!'

" 'I see, I can just try again!'

" ' Yup! So don't worry about Juvia and maybe spend a bit more time with—'

" 'You're absolutely right Sherria! I should fight for what I want! Thank You Sherria, I'm in your debt.' After that, Lyon had this really determined look in him, I think that he might pick a fight with Natsu!"

"Juvia understands, but Juvia thinks that you shouldn't worry, Lyon-san doesn't seem like the type of person to do something so reckless."

"I hope so, the last thing we want is Natsu and Lyon destroying the place, and it'll be my fault!"

"Juvia thinks that you shouldn't worry about it, even Natsu shouldn't be as stupid as to fight with Lyon when Jura-san is there."

"I guess you're right, maybe I'm just worrying too muc—"

"Natsu!" Lyon's voice penetrated past the stone barrier. "Fight with me! If I win, break up Juvia!"

"What are you talking about? Why should I do that!?"

"Juvia…sorry…" Sherria-san repeated.

"Ice Make: Eagle!" The sounds of birds flying entered Juvia's ears, please don't fight back Natsu, just let Jura-san handle it. The steam coming from the boy's side of the bath tripled, the heat of Natsu's magic be felt from beyond the wall. How did this happen? Is this Juvia's fault?

"What's next snow flake? You got anything else?"

"I'll shut your cocky mouth up!" The back of a dragon could be seen as Lyon-san's magic spiked. The visage of the dragon was vaporized once it came into contact with a powerful stream of flames, heating up the bath even more. Erza already summoned a throwing spear and was prepared to end the fight.

"I guess I'll end this right now! Fire Dragon's Ro—"

"Natsu!" Erza let the spear fly, heading right where his voice came from. "If you don't stop this right now! There'll be more coming your way!"

"A—aye!" Sherria-san exhaled for the first time in a while at the same time. From what Juvia could gather, no more fighting happened behind the walls, so the relaxing vibe returned. The girls went back to doing what they were doing before, chatting, the less fortunate ones were comparing bust size, people like Cana and Jenny-san were engaging in 'skinship', assaulting girls and coping a feel. Juvia was lucky that she was able to avoid the wiggling hands. Though, the reckless actions sent voices of displeasure over to the boy's side, inviting the peepers to act. While Juvia wouldn't mind if it was just Natsu trying to look at Juvia, she does mind anyone else peeping, so, we prepared some counter measures.

* * *

The rest of the bath went without any problems, allowing us to wind down and talk amongst ourselves. Juvia even made a few new friends from different guilds, Juvia also found out that she gets along well with Yukino-san, turns out, we had quite a few common interests in food and drinks. What came after the enjoyable bath was the chaotic pillow fight.

Lyon and Natsu used this opportunity to settle the score despite Juvia's numerous complaints. Erza was as competitive as ever, summoning pillows one after another, bombarding anyone that dare to challenge her. There were some people that tried to have fun playing board games or card games but, a quick pillow to the face made them join the fray. Elfman decided that it was manly to have a duel using pillows with Orga-san. Levy made a metal dome so that she could read in peace. Although, several words of encouragement for Gajeel came out of her mouth every now and then.

The people that weren't doing too well were 'The Trimen', Ichiya was Erza's first victim. Now, he's lying cold on the floor with his butt sticking out. Hibiki-san wasn't suited for this kind of things, so he took Jenny-san outside to look at the stars—he's the only one in the team that wasn't caught up in the war. Along the way, a stray pillow was going to send Juvia to the floor, her knight with pink hair blocked it and returned the pillow to the owner with a fury of a dragon. While Juvia wish that Natsu would have more faith in Juvia to fend for herself, seeing the heroic look of Natsu was just too good to pass up. It makes Juvia's heart flutter without fail.

Eventually, Natsu managed to beat Lyon in a pillow fight, breaking Lyon's spirit and making Sherria cheer him up. That was the start of the end of the pillow fight. Since Juvia was too bust dodging random pillows, Juvia didn't notice how many victims fell to Erza, it was down to the ace members of each guild. Natsu and Gray was in their own world, smashing fluff to each other's faces, going beyond what the definition of a pillow fight means.

The fight ended when the staff told us we were getting out of hand and continuing might destroy a couple of pillows. This was perfect because Juvia can bring Natsu to our room and have some alone time.

"Natsu, you could've just ignored him, why did you out of your way to fight Lyon-san." We entered our room, Juvia was a bit disappointed that there are two beds and not one. The room was lit with a warm light, orange and slightly romantic.

"I don't wanna." Natsu pushed the two beds together and place the two pillows next to each other. Thankfully, we've slept on the bed before so Juvia wasn't too flustered at Natsu's boldness.

"Why not?"

"I want him to lay off."

"And what if you lost?"

"I won't."

"If." Natsu showed Juvia a cheeky smile.

"I'll just have to propose to you again, he didn't say that I can't do that if I lost."

"That's true."

"Were you worried that I would lose?"

"No, Juvia was wondering why you would cause so much trouble."

"I don't know, I felt angry seeing him so close to you." Those words drew the teasing side of Juvia out.

"Who would've thought that you could be jealous?" Juvia poked his cheeks, joy swum around Juvia's head seeing the bothered Natsu.

"S—shut up."

"Juvia understands why Mira bullied you so much when you were a kid."

"I was just to trying to get him off you!"

"Don't worry you didn't have to do that," Juvia pulled Natsu into a hug. "Juvia became yours for a long time now. And," Juvia rested her head on Natsu's chest. "you became Juvia's at the same time." Juvia's heart is racing right now, being this close to Natsu…is euphoric.

"I did something unnecessary didn't I?"

"Yes, you idiot."

"I guess I really am an idiot."

"So you finally admit it."

"Just go to sleep."

"You can hear Juvia's heart, right? There's no way Juvia can sleep when Juvia is this excited."

"This is the first time we've slept together."

"But this is the first time we been on a bed, the rest of the time was on your hammock."

"How's that any different?"

"The vibe, it's feels like we're on a…honeymoon doesn't it?"

"I guess…" We enjoyed the silence for a while, Juvia took in Natsu's unique scent. Juvia has thought about taking it a step further but, facing Erza's punishment is too scary so, Juvia do anything above rubbing his chest and intertwining our legs together.

"Juvia?"

"Yes?"

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

* * *

Juvia woke up feeling refreshed, the combination of Natsu's body heat and the winding down form the hot spring gave Juvia the perfect morning. Natsu arm was still latched to Juvia's waist, his head was rubbing against Juvia's. The only thing that was slightly uncomfortable is the fact that Juvia's breasts were being pressed to Natsu's torso. It was a bit constricting but, nothing Juvia can't endure, being with Natsu takes higher priority…

Juvia used the time while Natsu was still asleep in thinking of ways to wake him up. Yesterday Juvia told Erza is coming for him, that woke him up with frightening effect, better yet, Juvia wasn't lying, Erza was mad that she couldn't wake Natsu up without going violent. Juvia doesn't have anything to put down his throat, Juvia is being held down by Natsu after all.

Juvia ended up waking Natsu by tempting him with food, a classic and surefire way to wake Natsu up.

"Natsu, wake up, we haven't had breakfast yet."

"Wha…what was that?"

"We need to eat, come on!"

"What's there to eat?"

"How should Juvia know? You're not letting Juvia go."

"My bad, you're really great to hug." He tightened his grip to demonstrate. "Can we just stay here and have someone deliver food to us?"

"Juvia is not making a poor employee do multiple rounds up two flights of stairs to send food to us until you're full, Juvia would sooner send them on a marathon run."

"I can't help it if I'm hungry." Natsu whined.

"Then get up, food is waiting for you." Natsu's brows furrowed, grumbles escaped his mouth before finally saying.

"Fine." Natsu release Juvia out of his hug. The receding warmth almost made Juvia tackle Natsu down and continue sleeping. However, that's just giving Natsu what he wants, doing that is not an option, so Juvia resisted the urge. Not giving him the chance to tease Juvia is a bonus.

"Juvia will be in the bathroom to change, don't peek."

"Got it." Juvia took out the change of clothes she brought and left Natsu to shake his drowsiness. Since Juvia wanted something that's easy to move in—Juvia has no idea what we will do today—Juvia put on a pair of trousers and a sweater before coming out to see Natsu's progress. The first thing Juvia noticed is that Natsu didn't go back to sleep. Thanks to that, Juvia doesn't have to wake him up again. However, Natsu still looked sleepy.

"Are you done?" Juvia asked, looking into his eyes for any signs of activeness

"Yeah…" His response wasn't lively at all. So, Juvia had to drag him down to give him a whiff of cooked food. Lots of people were sitting by the table when we arrived, small snacks served as starters. Juvia took a few pieces of sausages and fed them to Natsu, waking his stomach up.

"Are you awake now?"

"I'm hungry…" Natsu slumped in his seat that Juvia placed him in. Seating beside him, Juvia handed him some more food to chew on. We still have two more days in this trip, so as we waited for food, Juvia was looking at a guidebook to see what is there to do. We mostly exploded the nature of this place, we purposely left the town largely untouched so that we can have some fun today.

"Juvia, I still haven't given up on you." Lyon-san walked to our seats.

"You better or I'll make you."

"You can't stop me!"

"Wanna bet?" Natsu's hands lit on fire.

"Natsu! Hold still, you got some sauce on you." Juvia wiped away the sauce from Natsu's mouth, mainly because Juvia wants Lyon-san to go away. However, that seemed to have backfired.

"How dare you make her do that! Natsu you're going down!"

"Bring it on! I got my share of beating down strippers, I'll just add another one!"

"Boys!" Juvia shouted. "This place isn't ours, please restrain yourself or, Juvia will restrain you." Juvia added coldness to her voice, scaring the both of them. Erza looked at Juvia with approval in the background. Up on stage, Loretta was setting up her violin, she looked really happy back in the hot spring, she was working non-stop with her magic for a while now, so we persuaded her into coming with us.

"I'll be playing some music in the background, if you have any requests, feel free to ask!" Loretta started to play, showing off the results of her training. Instantly, a teddy bear materialized in front of Asuka-chan, dancing and inviting her to play, to which the child took with a gleeful smile. Other magical things followed the plush, balls of light decorated the ceiling, more plushes appeared, forming dance groups and danced under the muti-colour lights given off from the orbs above. The merry music seemed to soothe Lyon-san's anger, he realized his foolishness and joined his friends for the meal that arrived just now.

"Natsu, what should we do for today? Juvia wants to spend the afternoon alone before we have fun with everyone." Natsu swallowed before speaking—something that took a while to beat into his head.

"Then let's check out the town a bit more."

"Sure!"

"Juvia?"

"Yes?"

"You really changed, for the better, I don't think anyone can call you gloomy now." Natsu smiled, cheerful and lovable, just the way Juvia likes it. This change is all thanks to you Natsu, you let Juvia cast away the tittle of gloomy. And Juvia can't thank you enough.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I really feel like the chapters are starting to blend together, so I'm looking to close out this story soon. Before I do that, please let me know which parts of the story did you guys find strange and want me fixing, I mentioned this before but, I'm planning to update correct my mistakes before uploading the final chapter.**

 **If you guys think that I didn't include a lot of the characters in the little trip, I'll admit, managing this many character was way beyond my ability without extending the chapter to stupid lengths so, it's my mistake, I'll try to avoid doing that in the future. Although, I did learn quite a lot.**

 **If you guys got any ideas on a marriage proposal, I'm all ears, do let me know!**

 **Until then, hope you enjoyed, I look for your feedback!**


	26. Chapter 26: The Christmas Present Hunt

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

 **I have an important thing to say at the comment section.**

* * *

"Hey, what presents have you planned?" The girls were huddled up together in a circle, helping each other with the winter cold, Mira was trying the glean our Christmas plans.

"I plan to give Gray a jacket for what it's worth, I mean, he would just end up taking it anyway" Lucy said with a sigh. "Other clothes just don't work with him, he would lose them, so you got any ideas?"

"How about treating him to dinner?"

"Won't that just come off as super lazy and have no thought put into it? Besides, I don't think Gray would be happy having me treat him to dinner, even when we split the bills, he always takes the bigger portion."

"How about something hand-made? That shows sincerity."

"That could work, I'll have to think about it. Juvia, how about you? What do you plan to give Natsu?" Juvia thought about it for a while, Natsu does seem pretty happy about everything, there really isn't anything that Juvia can give Natsu that'll make him happier than he is now.

"Juvia has no idea, there's still two weeks, Juvia plans to us that time to think about it."

"I see, you have it rough too huh? That's what happens when you have a boyfriend." Loretta commented. "I'm just planning to go back home and spend it with my parents, father said that mother is coming back to see how's my magic training going."

"Good luck," Mira said with a smile. "I'm sure you'll impress her. And about Juvia's problem…hmmm…" Mira placed a finger on her chin for a good five seconds or so. Then she started laying out the situation. "Natsu is the type of person that's happy with whatever he gets, as long it has memories in it, he'll even cherish rumble. Why don't you…you know, give him a great meal. Natsu won't really mind it."

"Juvia think that she's explore Fiore and see if there's anything interesting to give him." As Juvia made her way out of the door, everyone else gave Juvia words of encouragement.

The cold winds of winter made Juvia miss being with Natsu—Juvia will miss it even more once she starts travelling—he's the perfect heater, when he's around, Juvia can get away with wearing less stuffier clothing. But now, Juvia is tucked tight with a black winter coat, a navy-blue scarf, and two pairs of trousers. Juvia is now heading to Natsu's house to tell him that Juvia is going to be away for a while. Thankfully it hasn't started snowing yet so, Juvia can still see the road and knows where to go. Once it snows however, Juvia will need Natsu as a guide until she gets used to it.

* * *

"Natsu? Are you in?" Juvia opened the door to Natsu's house, seeing the dragon slayer fully packed and ready to go, Happy was sitting on his shoulders, taking full advantage of his body heat. "Where are you going? Do you want Juvia to come with you?"

No, I need to do this alone, with Happy of course."

"Aye!"

"So, what's up?" Natsu grinned.

"Well, Juvia is here to telling you that Juvia is going on a journey too."

"What a coincidence! Us too! What're you doing?"

"Juvia won't tell you unless you tell Juvia why you're going." Natsu's face became awkward, trying to hide something from Juvia.

"Natsu, no secrets, we're a couple, trust Juvia."

"I'm going to get you a Christmas present…" Juvia was shocked, we had the same idea! This makes thing so much easier to explain! "Now! Why are you going?"

"The same reason as you." Natsu's eye got a fiery blaze and to be honest, Juvia's passion was boiling as well.

"We'll see who's is better!" "Let's see who gets the better one!"

"If I win…you'll have to move in with me!" Juvia's head overloaded instantly, living with Natsu, tha—that means…we'll have kids!? We're out in the middle of nowhere, no one can hear…hear us, does that mean we can go as crazy as—no! We're nowhere near that level! First comes kids, then marriage, then dating—Juvia got it backwards! Juvia took a while for her brain to make a proper response that's not mumbling and strange sounds.

"Wha—that's not fair! You want Juvia to lose on purpose!"

"Why would I want crappy present?"

"T—then, if Juvia wins, you'll…you'll have to be Juvia's dress-up doll for two weeks! And, you have to listen to what Juvia says for a week…"

"You know I hate that!"

"But…but…Juvia wants to see you in different clothes…you keep finding excuses to avoid it. Besides! You made such an outrageous request!" Juvia's rational side took over, Juvia won't have her kids live in this small house! For the kids's happiness, this cute house needs to go! "Juvia will lose on purpose if the stakes aren't at least this high! Do you even know how much trouble moving is!?

"Juvia will have to bring all the furniture, decoration, appliances and more! Especially the bed! Juvia's bed is better than your hammock. Furthermore, can this small house even fit another person? Also, if you don't at least—" Before Juvia could keep on ranting, Natsu covered Juvia's mouth.

"I got it! Sheesh, I'll make the house bigger if you have to move in, I'll help you move as well, happy?" He released Juvia to give Juvia a chance to speak.

"What about Juvia's friend? Juvia will miss having her friends as roommates."

"You can stay there at weekends!"

"Then we have a deal."

"Remember, we have to be back three days before Christmas, we need to help the town celebrate as well. Only one item each, no help from others. Are you fine with that?"

"Yes!"

"I won't lose!"

"Neither will Juvia!"

"By the way, how do we know who wins?" Natsu tactlessly destroyed the competitive vibe.

"Well…we can have some judges. How about, Mira, Master, Lucy, Levy and Bisca?"

"Why is gramps the only guy?"

"Because most guys are tasteless! We'll have Alzack-san instead of Levy then."

"Fine."

"Why aren't I a judge?" Happy raised his paw.

"Because you're going with Natsu, you'll be too biased."

"Hey buddy, go tell the others what happened, we need to give Juvia time to pack her bags, start boxing everything while you're at it!"

"You wish, be prepared to have every picture taken and shared to the female guild members!" Juvia ran off to pack her bags. Juvia won't lose, Natsu, you will regret this! Be—besides, Juvia can move in once we get…married.

* * *

When Juvia and Natsu got to the train station with our destinations in mind—we're going separate ways. Juvia found that the Fairy Tail members were formed two distinct groups, one with a sign that says 'Team Natsu' the other 'Team Juvia'

"How did-"

"This happen?" Juvia finished.

"I got…carried away…" Happy admitted with a fresh-looking fish in his mouth. So, he got bribed. Juvia should've expected this. Useless cat.

"Go get those pictures for us Juvia!" Mira and Cana shouted.

"Natsu! Don't mess this up! You're a real man!" Elfman bellowed.

"Alright!" Master announced. "You two, get ready." The trains arrived with a loud rumble. "Go!" The two of us made a mad dash to our respective trains, never once, did we look back.

Now seated on a train, Juvia was looking up at where Juvia is going. Juvia has heard of a cotton plant that's more resistant than usual. It'll be perfect for Natsu that goes on fights a lot. Juvia can make the perfect set of clothes for Natsu. If this doesn't work out, Juvia can move on to the next areas of interest.

 _Alderweed is a village that's famous for the cotton clothes produced._ The village's main _source of income is from the cotton plants called Heek. The cotton made from Heek is resistant to magic and physical attacks. The growing requirements of this plant is difficult to replicate so it can't be mass produced into common clothing._

 _Travelers who are visiting this place should make an effort to experience the unique surroundings in Alderweed. Alderweed is a place that's teeming with magic and researchers has yet to figure out why. Due to this, most of the residents over there practice magic and incorporate it into their daily lives more so than the other places in Fiore._

After closing her book, Juvia grew excited at the thought of checking out a unique place in Fiore. And it's only over half a day of travelling, compared that to the trips that Juvia goes on with Natsu. Speaking of him, Juvia is worried about his motion sickness, and Juvia comfort him this time, worse, Juvia and Levy didn't find any viable remedies for him. Worst, Juvia is with Natsu on a trip! Since Juvia is going to such an interesting place, it's a shame that we didn't come together. Then again, Natsu might just burn down the cotton…

Upon arrival to Alderweed, Juvia first noticed the faint magic power abundant in the village. Stepping out of the train station, Juvia laid eyes on a queer village, a good portion of it was nothing but fields, the houses were huddled in the middle, it was completely surrounded by fields upon fields of worked ground a long strip of dirt seems to slash the village and fields in two. Even stranger, plants are still growing in winter and yet, the temperature is the same as back in Magnolia. Juvia spotted out that only the fields closest to the houses had Heek Cotton growing, the rest were barren. Although Juvia can't a good look at the plants, the sheer whiteness coming from the plants tells Juvia that they shouldn't look too far off the ones Juvia has seen before.

And that Juvia in the village, the hosues here all have one defining feature, they all have weather equipment. From thermometres to anemometres, each village house was equipped with the tools to tell the weather. Guess they don't need a weather report from an outside source. Juvia found a stout man with a bushy beard in winter clothing looking at Juvia with eyes of a tour guide.

"Is this your first time here?"

"Y—yes."

"And you want some fabric, yes?"

"Yes."

"Sadly, the plants you see here aren't ready for harvesting yet, perhaps next year. I can take a reservation if you want, how much do you need?"

"Umm…do you have some in storage? Juvia really needs the fabric soon."

"For Christmas?"

"How did you know?"

"Why else are you in such a hurry?"

"Then do you have any?"

"We do but, they'll be harder to get."

"Why is that?"

"You see, Heeks are a stubborn plant, they tend to grow optimally in the right conditions, anything else, they just slow right down. And recently, we've come across a 'dry spell' so to speak, we haven't had any good weather in months! Because of that, our reserves are running low."

"So that's how it is." Juvia was planning to head straight to her next destination after hearing about the village's predicament.

"Although, there is a way you can get to our reserves right now. But, I don't recommend it."

"Please tell Juvia! Juvia will do what she can to help!" The man laughed heartily.

"That's being young for you! I'm Nick, the village head. Been growing fluffers as long as I can remember."

"What does Juvia have to do?"

"You see, are watering supply has gone dry for some reason." Nick-san pointed to the indentation a couple steps away from us. "That's the water we usually to water our plants. But, since it dried, we have to use magic to water them. Now for normal plants, that would have been the end of it. These ones are picky you see, if it's not water from that river, it grows even slower."

"So you want Juvia to find out about the river."

"Yup, we've sent people there already but, they all came back injured, they said that a monster attacked them."

"Juvia understands, Juvia will go investigate the problem, if she can, Juvia will also get rid of the problem. In return, please give Juvia the fabric need to make a set of clothes."

"You got yourself a deal!" Juvia followed the dried river upstream, Juvia still has no idea why only the fields that are close to the houses are being used but, Juvia is assuming it has something to do with the picky growing conditions.

Juvia's trek lead up a forest, not a very lively one, every tree was stripped bare of their leaves. A few animals wandered around, most of them are sleeping or left for a warmer place. The roaring winds made Juvia wrap her scarf even tighter, pulled down her hat and leave only the eyes and a small part of Juvia's cheeks. Sadly, still no signs of water in the river. However, Juvia could pull small droplets of water from the river, unlike the river back in Alderweed. Juvia is getting close! Juvia needs to quickly head to her next location.

Rumbling and groaning came from deeper in the forest—still along the river. Juvia ran towards it, hoping that is the source of the river blockage. Juvia found several large eggs wedged into the river. On the other side, clear green water was lively sloshing back and forth. The problem was, a massive lizard with yellow scale, a scary horn and claws that could rip Juvia in two. It stared at Juvia with caution, it then started to slam it tail on the ground all the while bobbing its head up and down, hissing menacingly. This is going to be harder than Juvia thought! The lizard lashed it tongue at Juvia with absurd speed. Juvia dodged it with the help of her magic, redirecting it away from Juvia.

"You're blocking the river; can you please move your eggs out of the way?" Another hiss in response. "Then Juvia has no choice." Juvia's magic swelled up and prepared her next move.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I decided to let you guys pick which one will win, I'll drop a poll so that you guys can vote in it. Probably a bad idea because this story only get a hundred or so visitors per chapter but, I really want to do it.**

 **If nothing goes wrong, it should be in my profile**

 **For now, the poll only lasts five days , I can always extend the time limit. The next chapter will just be Juvia running around Fiore to find potential items for the gift.**

 **Until then, I hope you enjoyed! And please go vote! Also, if I did the poll wrong, please teach me how to do it right.**


	27. Chapter 27: Weighing Options

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

 **Please go vote the poll on my profile.**

* * *

The lizard flicked its tongue up and down, a foul smell triggered Juvia's gag reflexes. In that moment, a powerful tail swung down at Juvia, aiming for her head. With the help of a water wall, Juvia slowed down the tail and allowed Juvia to jump out of the way. Juvia tried to cut the tail off with her 'Water Slicer' but, the scales were harder than they looked, deflecting the water with ease, drawing only anger from the oversize gecko. It let loose more of the same revolting smell in the air, this time stronger and added a burning sensation up Juvia's nose.

Juvia sealed away the smell with 'Water Lock', giving Juvia some fresh air to breath for once. The lizard was struggling to get out of Juvia's magic, trashing limbs and swinging the tail. It went as far as throwing out it's tongue out to strangle Juvia. Juvia was planning to cut the tongue off, the thought of the eggs hatching and not having a mother to take care of it was too sad for Juvia to commit to the magic. So Juvia released the lizard. It studied Juvia intently, wondering what Juvia will do next. Seeing how the lizard was smart enough to attack Juvia while her gag reflex was kicking in, Juvia gave the diplomatic approach one more shot.

"Juvia is sorry that we got on the wrong foot," Juvia tried to use a more calming and kind tone. "Juvia knows you are just trying to do what's best for your kids. However, you're ruining to lives of a village downstream, do you think you can let the water flow again?" The lizard remained vigilant, only losing a bit of the anger it was displaying earlier. "If not, Juvia is afraid the village will send more people up here. And they won't be as merciful as Juvia." The lizard showed another emotion change, fear to hesitant before changing to resignment. The lizard walked to the dam it created and, released the water flow.

Juvia climbed up a lip to get a better look, five eggs were submerged in the river, each one twice the size of Juvia's head. The lizard looked at Juvia expectantly, moving to the river bank, then back to Juvia, to the bank again. Afterwards, it made a digging motion. Juvia followed the lizard to the bank and looked back, it responded by digging at the ground. Juvia used 'Water Slicer' to cut a square hole at the bank, water instantly flooded the new space, the lizard quickly moved one egg to the fresh hole. Now, that Juvia knows what to do, Juvia made a small pit down the river a bit—not on the bank, just next to it. Juvia connected the first hole she made with the pit, water flowed into the pit, making a small pond. The lizard moved all the eggs to the pond that Juvia made.

"It's easier to protect them now right? Juvia is rooting for you, Juvia may become a mother as well." Juvia waved the lizard goodbye, as she was leaving, a gentle tongue pulled Juvia back to the nest. "What is it?" The horn of the lizard fell off, and a new one replaced it. The lizard picked it up its tongue and gave it to Juvia. "Thank You but, it's Juvia that should be thanking you for putting up with Juvia's selfish request." Juvia handed the horn back. The lizard fell asleep right on top of the nest, telling Juvia that she can't return the gift. So, putting the horn inside Juvia's bag—after washing it—Juvia went back to the village to give Nick-san the good news.

"Thanks for getting the water flowing again! You really saved our hides."

"Now as promised, please give Juvia the fabric that she needs."

"Sure! Follow me." Nick-san unlocked a huge door to a building. Inside, was a warehouse filled with different colour, thickness and length of fabrics. "Though there really isn't much, one can take the kind one need. What are you going for?"

"Just a set of clothes."

"Do you need help with sewing?"

"No Juvia is fine by herself." Juvia took the colours that she need, the same types that Natsu is sporting right now. Juvia will make the outfit when she's on the train for the next location. "Thank You very much!"

"Give and take, good luck with the clothes!"

"Yes!"

* * *

Juvia was about to get a ticket for Farroncall when Juvia happened to overhear this peculiar conversation.

"Are you sure about this?" A lady exclaimed. "A bracelet that can help with motion sickness?" That'll be perfect for a gift! Juvia left the ticket booth and made her way to the two gossiping ladies.

"It's true! My son has a pretty bad motion sickness, and when I got him this bracelet, never again! It's like magic!"

"Umm…" Juvia drew the two's attention. "Where may Juvia find that bracelet?"

"Young lady, do you have motion sickness?"

"No, but Juvia's boyfriend does."

"That's terrible!"

"It is, so when Juvia overheard your conversation, Juvia thought that it can help him."

"I guarantee it! You can find a smith that makes it in Tennant Town."

"Tennant Town?"

"Yes, it's a lovely little town that's oozing with creativity! Oh! I can still hear those jolly tunes even now!"

"Thank You very much!"

"Good luck, hope your boyfriend cherishes you, you're such a sweet girl." Juvia went back to the ticket booth.

"One-way trip to Tennant town please!" Juvia paid the required amount of money for the trip, there was still an hour before the next train departs so, Juvia spent the time making Natsu's new clothes.

As the lady back then had said, Tennant Town is a place filled with creative vibes, everywhere Juvia looked, there was at least two people doing something interesting, street painters, bands, black smiths, just about every medium of art was being displayed to their fullest. It was slightly overwhelming really, Juvia had no idea where to go in her pursuit of the bracelet.

Juvia used up a decent amount of time at admiring the glassware that was being displayed on a stall, a rabbit taking care of its young, a strange egg with intricate etches of serpents coiling around the egg. Juvia asked the store owner to deliver the rabbit statue to Fairy Hills and gave the payment. After looking around at jewelry for a while, none of the shops had anything that was close to what Juvia was after.

"Young lady, you seemed to be disappointed, is my ware not up to standard?" An elderly man asked Juvia with a troubled look.

"It's not that, Juvia was looking for a bracelet that can help with motion sickness."

"Ahh, you're looking for Tristan's work, he's a real genius you know, he's one of the ten wizards in this town. Though, if you're looking for a ordered ware, you might have to wait a few months or so, his orders are always backed up."

"Is that so, Juvia won't make it on time them…"

"Well, just give Tristan a visit, you might just get lucky."

"Then where can Juvia find him?" The man pointed down the street.

"Just follow this road to the end, it should be the building with the 'Jolly Times' sign on it, you can't miss it, there's usually a line there. If you make it now, you won't have to wait as long, most people are out for lunch."

"Juvia will do just that, Thank You very much." Juvia ran down the street, ignoring the advancements from other stores owners and advertisements. Stopping at the sign that the old man described, Juvia was glad that the line wasn't too long, it shouldn't take too long, just in case, Juvia got in line and worked on her clothes for Natsu.

The wait was the worst thing Juvia has ever experienced, there was this one lady that was looking at Juvia as she made Natsu's clothes, that wasn't the problem, the irritating thing about it was that she kept criticizing every single one of Juvia designs choices. She would spout mean things like 'Bad choice of colours' or put out a question on the lines of 'Why a sash?'. To top it all off, she would rant on Juvia's skills. It was so ridiculous that even other people in line was shooting hatred towards the lady, despite the comments not even being directed to them. The one thing that was keeping Juvia from blasting the woman with magic was that Juvia was too focused on making clothes for Natsu.

At one point, the woman had enough of watching and extending a hand to Juvia's piece.

"Why don't you let me handle it from here, anymore from you and you'll be wasting such good fabric." Since Juvia was handed the opportunity to unleash all her rage at once, Juvia took it before her logical side formed a thought. Sadly, Juvia had to retrain herself or she might be in court for murdering someone, Juvia summoned a whip of water and tripped the lady before she could touch Natsu's clothes.

"Please get away from Juvia before things get more ugly."

"You brat! I was just trying to help you!" The lady got on her feet, her make-up ruined by dirt and sand.

"Juvia never asked, now please leave, Juvia endured your abusive comments, but if you get close enough to touch these cloths, Juvia won't show you mercy." Juvia added to the intimidation by summoning several water blades behind her.

"Y—you wouldn't!" Fear was clear in her eyes, regret was absent from those delusional orbs.

"Then other people behind you will." The woman turned around and stared down at the faces of rage from the crowd. The pressure generated from this was quite impressive, it scared the lady so much that she left the line while spewing more abusive language. "Thank You so much for helping Juvia with that woman."

"No problem." The man behind Juvia replied. "Marge is always like that."

"That sounds like trouble, Juvia can only imagine how many tourists were turned away by her."

"Ehh…I think it's in the hundreds by now, we try to correct her attitude for a while now. I'm sure you can see the results yourself."

"Next!" A tired voice came from inside the shop, signaling that Juvia's wait is finally over. Juvia entered the shop, giving Juvia the spectacular view of delicate and alluring accessories on display. Rings adorned with gems that Juvia can identify and even more that Juvia can't identify. The same situation happened with necklaces, bracelet, and other jewelry. "Welcome! What do you need?" A muscular man stood behind a counter with a cheery smile. His hair was covered with a damp cloth in fact, most hair was covered, a leather apron holding multiple tools in the pocket. In the back, a forge was fully active, spewing out intense heat that increased the temperature in the room.

"Juvia heard that you can make a bracelet that helps with motion sickness."

"I can, it'll take a while."

"How long?"

"Around a week."

"Juvia thought that you have lots of requests. This seems more reasonable that Juvia thought."

"Well, most of them, I already finished. I have some free time to do other requests."

"Then, can you send it to this address?"

"Fairy Hills huh? You're a Fairy Tail wizard?"

"Yes."

"Are you wearing it or someone else?"

"A guy that looks like you, Juvia thinks that you can use your own arm for a model."

"Good to know! That'll be thirty thousand Jewels please, just give me half of the amount now and give me the rest after I deliver it, I'll send one of my students to deliver it. And if it doesn't work, please bring this back to me along with the wearer so I can see what's wrong."

"Got it. Here you go." Juvia handed the man fifteen thousand Jewels without much complaint, Juvia honestly expected more, so Juvia left the shop with a happy face.

* * *

Juvia finished the set of clothing by the time she reached to her fifth destination—the other attempts failed. Juvia did have the liberty of adding a symbol on the back of the jacket, a wave that wraps around itself. Juvia gingerly placed the clothes in Juvia's backpack and held it tight. Juvia wonders how Natsu is doing right now? Will this be enough to win? No matter, the next place that Juvia is going, should have great results, if the rumors are to be trusted. Juvia is going to get a book!

Arriving at Notting City, Juvia searched the antique store for the book. What Juvia is looking for is a book of memories, like the name implies, it allows for storage of memories inside its pages. Since Natsu likes collecting items that can memories behind it, Juvia figured that the book would be a good thing to add to Natsu's impressive collection. Juvia choose this as a gift because Juvia has been thinking about pricy things to give Natsu. However, thinking back on the great times we had, none of them were at the cost of an arm and a leg, just spending time together is a joy. Which is why Juvia came here to preserve out memories a bit more vividly.

From what Juvia has heard, these books have been found in garage sales and second-hand shops because people that sold them has no idea what they are. So, Juvia is hoping to do the same.

"Welcome!" A lady in her sixties with a gentle face greeted Juvia. "My, aren't you a young one to enter my shop, take your time."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, most of my customers are around my age that is looking for a something that want back, a book they liked, an old lacrima that isn't manufactured anymore, things that take you down the memory lane. So, it's rare to find a youngster in my shop."

"Juvia understands. However, Juvia is here to find something similar."

"Have a look around then, I'm sure you'll find something that suits you." Juvia looked at all the books that looks so fragile, just by touching it, it'll crumble away. Juvia was looking for faint hints of magic that maybe leaking out of the pages. Seeing how Juvia can't find it, Juvia tried to ask the lady.

"Do you have a book that can store memories?" The lady grew surprised and rummaged underneath the counter. She brought out a book the size of a large picture book—only with the thickness of a grimoire—with a groan, Juvia rushed over to support the book for the lady. Juvia got a close look at the designs of the book. A tree at the middle was fading from the years, that's about it. There might've been other designs at some point. Now, scratches and dents replaced them.

"Thank You…my…bones aren't…like they used…to." The lady had some light exhaling form lifting the book. "Here's the book you wanted, it's an older model, the newer ones are lighter and smaller but, they're all sold out, this is the only one I have left."

"Juvia will take it, it doesn't matter how heavy it is, a small price to pay for something that can be experienced once."

"Very true, very true." The lady now has a sage-like look, glazed with fondness. "Tell you what young lady, in the spirit of Christmas, I'll give you this book for free, think of it as a senile old lady not knowing how to run a business." The lady smiled warmly, as if satisfied at knowing something.

"Are you sure? Juvia is more than happy to pay for it."

"There's no need, I'm clearing up inventory, no one is willing to buy it because of how heavy it is.

"Thank You!" Juvia bowed at the lady's generosity. "Juvia will make sure it's taken care of."

"Then, I'll teach you how to plant memories into it. First, place you hand over the book cover, then think of a memory you want to store. Finally, pour magic into the book, the lacrima inside it should do the rest." Juvia rested her hand on the book cover. What should Juvia store inside? Juvia decided to store the night of her confession. Juvia gently poured in magic to the book, not knowing if it can take a more forceful load. The book glowed slightly with magic power.

"Now," The lady opened the book to the first page. "to look into the memory, lightly tap the image you want on the pages, if you want, you can label what the memory is." Juvia tapped the image of Natsu being held by Juvia. The very scene that Juvia thought of entered Juvia's mind, exacting how Juvia remembered it.

"What happens if Juvia can't remember the thing she wants to store?"

"Then you may pour more magic and hope that the book can search the things you've forgotten. Of course, the sooner you store something, the more vivid it'll be."

"Thank You so much!"

"Just take care of this man." The lady pointed to Natsu in the picture.

"Yes!" Juvia went to the market, asking the lady to keep the book until Juvia comes back. After realizing that the book was heavier than Juvia originally thought, Juvia got a board from the market and had some water dolls to carry the board along with the book.

Juvia has the most valuable present, what is your move now Natsu?

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!**

 **So for the poll, I may have to extend the time, really isn't that much people voting, thought that may not even matter seeing the small but great, audience I have.**

 **The next chapter should be the results of the competition, since there really isn't a good way for me to see who's winning, I'll have to write both outcomes and post the one that you guys wanted to see. So, it'll take more time than usual. Maybe a good thing since it'll give me more time for the votes to come.**

 **Anyway, until then, thanks for the great comments and please go vote on the poll, it really means a lot to me.**


	28. Chapter 28: Winter's Eve

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

What should Juvia do with these excess presents? Juvia wanted to choose the best present out of a group but now, the answer is in plain sight, there isn't a need to debate, the book is the best option. At the same time, Juvia got Natsu a set of clothes and a bracelet that helps with motion sickness. Juvia doesn't want to waste. It was almost Christmas, the guild just finished rehearsing for the celebration, Natsu won't let Juvia enter his house until Christmas is over so, Juvia is in her room with three objects covered in wrapping paper. Juvia already decided on how to deliver the book to Natsu. However, wasting two perfectly good gifts seems like a shame. One birthday present and the other our anniversary present? Yeah, that should do. Natsu, prepare to become Juvia's servant for a week _and_ Juvia's dress-up doll! Perhaps Juvia should invite the other girls to join in on the fun…

When Juvia woke up on Christmas day, it wasn't due to her alarm, but the wave of cold that rushed into Juvia's room. Moving in with Natsu doesn't seem like such a bad idea after all…not that it was a problem to begin with...it's so cold! Juvia quickly wrapped herself in a winter clothing. It seems that Juvia's heater ran out of magic while she was sleeping. However, that isn't going to stop Juvia from heading out and winning her prize! Juvia summoned a group of water dolls to help push the cart that was holding Juvia's present and headed out the door.

Before the gifting can begin, Fairy Tail must help the town with celebrating the occasion. Pushing away the snow as the cart made it way to the guild, Juvia was re-affirming her duties. With Mira and Wendy, Juvia is supposed to be selling cakes outside the guild—wearing a Santa costume due to popular voting. Natsu is helping out by acting as security, though in reality, Master couldn't find a suitable position for him since there isn't a tournament planned, so Natsu is patrolling the town making sure that nothing goes wrong. If not, he's free to enjoy the festival. Somewhere along the line, Loretta's concert starts after lunch and Mira is joining her. Leaving Erza to help us with the cakes. Thankfully, they aren't strawberry cheesecake being sold in the afternoon, only in the morning.

* * *

"Don't you think these costumes are a bit revealing for winter?" Juvia still can't believe she has to wear a mini skirt and a sleeveless coat in winter, the hat isn't too warm either! To make it worse, Natsu is on patrol with the other trouble makers! Wendy's costume was acceptable for the cold weather, covering the arms and legs with a cute red and white costume, the snow mittens added to the adorable nature of the girl.

"Well, we do have a heater." Mira gestured to the machine the size of a crate, not particularly minding the clothes.

"Aren't you embarrassed wearing these?"

"If any one of them gives me a look I don't like, they'll regret it. Though, to be honest, these can cover more skin…" Mira pouted a bit, pulling down on her skirt. "Wendy you have it lucky."

"I still feel bad to be in the best position out of all of us…"

"When we're done, how about we give Master a piece of our minds?"

""Yes!"" We had the guys move the red boxes filled with cakes to our booth. Mira is to attract customers, Wendy and Juvia are to serve them. Once it reaches nine, our mission starts.

This is the second time Juvia was beaten by cuteness, the lines that are formed favored Wendy, her's at least twice as long as Juvia's though Juvia's line was thirty people long. Maybe Wendy is better at giving a service smile than Juvia. Whatever it is, Juvia's work load is much less than Wendy's. The heater was good enough to keep us warm, occasionally, a gust of wind would bypass the heating and would make Juvia regret not having Natsu nearby. This was our working condition until lunch.

* * *

Now that there's a concert going on inside the guild, our work has diminished substantially, Wendy is now attracting customers, Erza is helping Juvia in selling cakes. This time, the lines were less pronounced as last time but still favoring Erza's side. Today really damaged Juvia's pride as a woman…as long Natsu doesn't mind Juvia not being the prettiest girl out there, Juvia can live with it.

After the concert, we don't have to help out until the night-time performance, so we decided to hold our Christmas party now and continue it after the performances.

"Listen up!" Master announced with a proud face. "For the past year, the amount of compensation I had to pay has been lowered by five percent! While I wish that it can be more, considering your tendencies, it's already a miracle by itself. For that, you can go wilder today than before!" Roars of approval rang from the guild. "One last thing before we get this party started!" The cheers died down at an alarming rate. "I wish you all a happy new year! Here's to another great year! Cheers!" Master hoisted his mug in the air, everyone else followed, signaling the start of a long and chaotic party, even for Fairy Tail standards.

Most guild members took this time to exchange gifts in the party, during Juvia's journey, Juvia picked out different gifts for her friends. The rabbit statue, Juvia gave it to Lisanna. And when Juvia was out to get the book, Juvia bought a few antique books for Levy. Everyone else got their own gifts that Juvia bought in that week or two timeframe, some more unconventional than others but all have thought put into it. Once Juvia finished handing out presents, Natsu walked over with the five judges we picked out.

"Prepare to lose!" Natsu declared with a mischievous smile.

"Juvia has intention of doing that, if anything, you should just agree to Juvia's demands right now."

"Alright, alright," Master cut into our little bickering. "We'll start with Natsu in presenting the gift, if needed, you'll be allowed some time to explain what the gift is." Natsu gestured the Happy that pulled out a tiara from his pack, it was made of a silver band of metal etched with white runes, growing stronger as it gets closer to the centre. The crowning piece was a deep blue gemstone that was giving off a dazzling luster.

"Here you go! The old man that I got it from told me that it can protect the wearer from abnormal magic effects."

"Natsu, it's not a bad gift but, I doubt Juvia would wear that in public."

"Huh? Why? It looks so good on her! Look!" Natsu walked over and nestled the tiara on Juvia's head. "See? She looks so pretty!"

"I don't doubt that Natsu, that's not the problem here. No one will wear that in the public."

"Though, I think it's very sweet." Mira added. "Treating Juvia like royalty, that's lovely in my opinion."

"Yeah, it's great!" Lucy also commented. "Maybe, Juvia won't wear it all the time but, the thought matters a lot in this."

"Plus, it's very cute." Alzack and Bisca made similar comments on Natsu's gift. Then, all the judges wrote a score—from one to ten—with Reedus-san's pen for a total of thirty-four points. Next it was Juvia's turn. Four little dolls carried the wrapped book to Natsu.

"What's this?" Natsu asked.

"Just open it and you'll know. Juvia hopes you like it. Don't burn off the wrapping though." Natsu tore off the paper impatiently and became dumbfounded.

"A book?"

"Yes, you can store memories in this book."

"Cool!"

"Let Juvia teach you how to use it." Juvia placed a hand on the cover of the book. "First, you put a hand on the cover," Juvia thought of the time when Juvia was looking for decoration and over-thought our relationship, more specifically, the time when we talked on the hammock. It was the thing that made Juvia more comfortable with her relationship with Natsu. "then you think of a memory you want to store. Finally, you put your magic in it, don't use too much, this book is quite old." The book gave out a warm blue light as Juvia poured magic into it.

"Cool!"

"Now, you look at a memory you just tap the picture." Juvia flipped open to the first page with two pictures on it.

"Which one do I press?"

"It doesn't matter, both of them will tell you how important you are to Juvia." Natsu tapped on the photo and blanked out as the scene he chose played out. When it was finished, Natsu wrapped Juvia in a hug.

"I lose…" Gasps dominated the guild hall. To be honest, Juvia was surprised in hearing that Natsu admitted defeat. "Thank You, I love it."

"Merry Christmas Natsu, Juvia is glad that you like it. Please stay with Juvia."

"You can count on it." Natsu squeezed tighter, giving Juvia the warmth that she's been wanting for the two shifts that's been absent.

"However," Juvia put Natsu in a death grip, giving him the most sadistic stare Juvia can make. "that does mean Juvia won. You have to obey Juvia for a while." The girls ran off giddily while Natsu turned pale. Gray even gave Natsu his condolences. Natsu tried to get away, screaming—begging for mercy—cursing and saying that he takes his surrender back, Master didn't accept it since the match was already over.

While Natsu was frozen, everyone else was preparing for the performance, Juvia was trying to do something about the fear-stricken dragon slayer.

"Come on Natsu, we have to get ready, you're in charge of the effects remember?"

"But, I going to suffer for a week!"

"Juvia got through it when Juvia became your maid, think of it as your just desserts."

"Please don't over-do it."

"You didn't have any mercy for Juvia so, no."

"Fine…" Natsu sulked for a bit longer before rising up.

"Are you done being a kid?"

"I'm not a brat!"

"Then hurry up and get to position."

"Got it…" Juvia made sure that Natsu was ready before going to her own duties. Our big plan was doing a talent show of sorts that was Christmas related. For example, Lucy and doing a small play with Gray, Loretta is leading a carol with hand-pick members of the guild, Juvia is also a part of the choir. Some were dancing, others were showing off their magic in creative ways. Juvia was dancing with water dolls for her part, making good use of the present Natsu just gave Juvia. Regardless of how the performance turns out, Juvia is satisfied with today already. Though the alone time with Natsu after the party is what Juvia is looking forward to the most.

* * *

The performance was perfect! Nothing went wrong, the crowd enjoyed it. To top it off, the second half of our party was wonderful, no one was particularly hurt—not more than usual anyway, save Master, we gave Master a thorough scolding. Everyone had fun, Juvia enjoyed talking to her friends about what kind of clothes should we make Natsu wear. Juvia rejected the suggestion of making Natsu wearing female clothes out of interest of not hurting Natsu too much than Juvia already has.

Juvia was on a hillside with Natsu, an area of grass stood out from the white. Cuddling against Natsu for heat, Juvia got as close to him as possible. Honestly, it was at the point where Juvia believes she can accurately map out Natsu's chest with her fingers. Beside us, the book that Juvia got for Natsu was tucked under Natsu's hand, is wasn't surprising at all that Natsu can carry the thing without much trouble.

"Did you put anything in it yet?"

"No, I plan to later."

"Can you tell Juvia what you plan to do then?"

"It's simple." Natsu closed the gap between our lips, sticking his tongue in Juvia's mouth for good measure, exploring it thoroughly. Since it was Juvia's first time doing something like this, Juvia wasn't sure what she's feeling normal. Her heart was accelerating beyond belief—this hasn't happened to this extent since we got together—blood flooded Juvia's cheeks, and Juvia is pretty sure that steam was coming off like crazy. Natsu pulled away. "I do something like that."

"Don't do that out of the blue…"

"You don't like it? I loved it."

"It's not that…Juvia was really…happy…"

"Then what's the problem?" Juvia buried her head in Natsu's scarf, not wanting him to see Juvia's face.

"Nothing."

"I don't see a problem in doing this then." Natsu forced Juvia to face him and kissed Juvia again, holding Juvia's head in place with one hand this time so Juvia can't get away even if Juvia wants to. His other hand was doing something that wasn't like Natsu at all, it was touching Juvia's butt! As if the kiss wasn't stimulating enough, he had to do something like this! Once we separated, Natsu gave Juvia a cockily smile.

Juvia's brain wasn't working properly, it was simply too much to handle. Juvia's brain was just replaying what just happened over and over again, with each passing time, Juvia somehow managed to find her way deeper in Natsu's scarf. Natsu got close to Juvia's ear.

"I'll use the book to record _all_ those cute reactions of yours. I really want to eat you up every time I see it." And Natsu broke Juvia once more.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! So I was correct in the number of votes. Only five voted, kind of sad really. But I suppose it's my fault for doing these kinds of things when I don't a huge audience.**

 **Anyway, I want to know what you think of this chapter, Natsu is a bit ooc in this one but not too much.**

 **The next chapter should be fun! Until then, hope you enjoyed, please let me know what you think of the story over all.**


	29. Chapter 29: Her Week

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

"Can we stop? We've been doing this for like an hour now!" Natsu whined, just taking off a black butler uniform and grabbing a leather jacket and a pair of jeans that Juvia handed to him.

"What did we say you'll refer Juvia to?"

"M—mistress."

"Exactly, now put it on."

"Fine." Natsu finished with a groan.

"Not 'fine', you know what to say."

"As you wish my lady." Natsu went into his bathroom.

"Be quick about it! Others are waiting." The doors shut as Juvia started admiring the picture of Natsu that was taken. The one with Natsu sporting a black butler uniform, is making Juvia fall in love all over again! It's something about Natsu wearing something that he usually doesn't make him so much more attractive. It's the same feeling you get from buying something new, you just stare at it for long hours. The contrasting tone of the savage look of Natsu's face with the elegant nature of the uniform seems say something, like in any moment, Natsu will just run wild and have his way with…Juvia…what is Juvia thinking! This week, Juvia is in command!

"I'm done!" Natsu walked out, showing off a look that complimented his nature a bit more. Somehow, Juvia wasn't as excited as the butler outfit.

"Juvia has changed her mind, change back into the butler uniform, we're going to the guild like that."

"Are you serious!?"

"Of course! Why should Juvia enjoy this by herself?" Natsu gave up and walked back in the bathroom. Juvia feels bad for him, maybe Juvia should do something for him afterwards. Natsu came back out wearing a black tie, coat; a grey vest and trouser; completing it with a pair of white gloves. Juvia latched onto Natsu's arm and pulled him out the door.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Shouldn't you escort Juvia? Besides, don't you like Juvia being so close to you?"

"It's not that, I love you being close to me, just not as much when we're walking, it gets hard to walk."

"Too bad, now start moving."

"Yes."

* * *

Gasps came from the guys and shrills came from the girls when we entered the guild hall—all their eyes focused on Natsu's new look. Mira and Cana were the first ones to come over, followed by Lucy and Gray, then Lisanna.

"You actually tamed ash breath." Gray circled Natsu while holding back a snicker.

"This is pretty good stuff." Lucy pulled on the cuff of Natsu's coat.

"The wearer is more important than the material." Cana snapped a picture with a lacrima. "Hey Mira, how's this one?" Cana showed the picture taken to Mira that was eagerly huddled over to Cana's side.

"My! He's like a different person! Juvia, what else have you tried?"

"Juvia came here before trying something else, so we can have fun together." Juvia put on a sadistic smile that drew on Mira's and Cana's. Together, we dragged Natsu to a room, ignoring the begging for help Natsu kept repeating—even to Gray. A couple more girls timidly followed us, and a bunch of guys came along with the 'torture', Gildarts, Gajeel and Laxus to list a few.

* * *

"Natsu?" We were lying back by the lake where Natsu found Juvia crying, a fishing pole beside him—now back in his old clothes. How he kept him childish demeanor is beyond Juvia but, Natsu was pouting cutely and turned away from Juvia. "Natsu?" Juvia shook his shoulders, no response. "Are you still mad?"

"No…" Natsu shuffled away from Juvia. Now he's being cold to Juvia, literally, now that he's further away, Juvia can feel the winter winds cutting in the gaps of her clothes. Wearing a black coat and jeans just isn't enough to stay warm without Natsu.

"Yes, you are. Stop sulking and come back here, Juvia is getting cold." Natsu came back with a groan. Juvia wrapped her arms around Natsu's waist and pulled. "Juvia is sorry for doing that, Juvia just wanted to have a little fun but, Juvia got carried away. To be honest, Juvia didn't expect it to take three hours of modeling. Please forgive Juvia." Natsu sighed and turned to face Juvia.

"I did lose the bet, you don't have to apologize."

"But Juvia made you do something uncomfortable for so long, even when Juvia was a maid, you didn't make Juvia do so much." Natsu pulled out a small fish, sighed and let the fish go. Natsu looked back at Juvia with a cheeky grin.

"My lady, you don't have to worry about me, for a week, I live to serve you." Juvia giggled and sat up.

"For now, just stay still." Juvia leaned over the lying Natsu and kissed him. "Now let's go to town and do some shopping." Natsu gave Juvia a sorrowful look which just made Juvia laugh.

"No, we're not going to buy clothes, just going out to have some fun. All the things we buy you're carrying of course. Juvia has to take advantage of her week after all." Natsu bounced up at once, pulling Juvia by the hand.

"Then let's go already!" Juvia smiled at having her energetic Natsu back.

Juvia took full advantage of having a servant for a week, walking around town shopping with her arms swinging freely is something that Juvia isn't used to. We didn't just shop for good deals, we saw a play, played some games together. Natsu was making jokes that never failed to draw Juvia's laughter throughout the time we spent. We had a hearty meal at the end of our fun, Juvia treated as an apology for being mean to Natsu in the first half of the day.

"Where are we going now?" Natsu asked Juvia that was pulling him around town.

"To find some building materials, you said you plan on expanding your house, right?"

"But you said you're not moving in."

"That's true but, that doesn't mean that Juvia isn't interested in moving in with you. Juvia does plan on moving in with you, just not now. That's why we're here to get supplies so Juvia can move in at any time."

"I see!" Natsu's sloppy footwork turned from dragging his feet on the ground to fleeting and bouncy footsteps. "Come on!"

We spent a good deal of time on looking at building materials Natsu can build the house in. Though Juvia advised against it, said he's planning on building an entirely new house rather than build upon his old one. So, we weren't restricted to using the same material Natsu used originally. Juvia learned another quirky thing about Natsu today, on how he chooses building material. He would try to smash it with his magic to determine what's good and what's not. Juvia lost count on how many times she would has to restrain him so that he wouldn't break the shop keeper's wares. Once we decided on a good material, we left the shop and Juvia left Natsu to the design of the house.

* * *

The first day of Natsu's punishment ended greatly, Juvia now has an entire photo album of Natsu in various clothing that he would never wear normally. Now hugging the Natsu plush while she browsed through the album, Juvia found herself giggling at each one, mainly because of Juvia remembering each time we forced Natsu to wear another outfit. We found that Natsu fits best with any athletic clothing, his body was just made for it. Tomorrow, Juvia is planning to make Natsu service her and finally make him become a butler! Today was just to see if Natsu looked good in the role. Now that Juvia knows he does, there's nothing that can stop Juvia from making Natsu her servant!

Where is he!? Juvia was tapping her foot on the ground just outside Fairy Hills, waiting for Natsu to come pick her up. However, he's ten minutes late, and Juvia told him repeatedly that he better come on time or Juvia will hand him over to the girls at Fairy Hills, free to do what they what with give. Under normal circumstances, Juvia will be the one that's visiting Natsu but, since Natsu is the servant for the week, he should be the one that's coming to Juvia! If he's any later than this, Juvia will give him to Gray for a day! That'll teach him to not be late! Juvia was about to find his disobedient servant and punish him when Juvia saw a spec of pink that was getting bigger with Juvia's foot taps.

"Sorry that I'm late!" Natsu wearing a butler outfit with a lovely smile quickly melted upon seeing Juvia's cold stare that was largely cosmetic, Juvia honestly expected something like this to happen, just not as extreme.

"Ten minutes! What did Juvia say about being late!?"

"To not be late." He murmured.

"Exactly, do you want to be at the mercy of the other girls?"

"No…"

"Then how about Gray then!?"

"I would rather die!"

"Then don't make that mistake again, or you'll have a bad time."

"A—aye!"

"Now, let's go back to your house."

"Why did I come here then?"

"Because Juvia can't tell where your house is with all this snow." Juvia linked her arm with Natsu's and led him guide Juvia to his house, all the while Juvia reminded Natsu of how to act like a butler. This is going to be so much fun! "Where's Happy? Isn't he usually with you?"

"He's still sleeping."

"Even though it's eight!?"

"You know when we wake up."

"Juvia expected that you would wake him up."

"Why would I do that?"

"Juvia just didn't think that you can be quiet when getting ready."

"Hey!"

"Juvia was joking, a bit…okay, maybe not." Natsu huffed and left deeper prints on the ground along the way to his house. "Are you mad?"

"No."

"You can at least try to hide it, anyone with a brain can tell that you're lying." Juvia tried to suppress her laughter, creating strange stifling sounds. Natsu didn't say anything for the rest of the walk. However, Juvia did feel her surroundings get hotter, which more than welcome in the cooling climate. Juvia can't wait to snuggle up close to Natsu when it gets too cold!

"So, what are we doing here?"

"Juvia wants you to clean up this house for once, it's getting a bit dirty and Juvia is tired of doing something that'll just end up being dirty again, maybe if you do it yourself you won't be so willing to mess this place up."

"But I never cleaned my house!" Natsu exclaimed, drawing a thud from upstairs.

"Don't worry, Juvia will guide you through each step. To make this interesting, for each mistake that you make, you'll have to run down town and get something that Juvia requests. Juvia will pay of course." Natsu gritted his teeth, clenched his fists before loosening up in defeat.

"Fine, what do I do first?"

"Let's start with the windows."

* * *

Despite knowing how bad Natsu will be at cleaning, Juvia didn't think that it'll be evening when he finished. To be fair, Juvia did make him run around and do errands, there's a mountain of things that Juvia made Natsu run to buy: several fishes for Happy—that has already been reduced to bone—along with meals for the two of us, a book to read since Juvia saw how long it's going to take, cleaning supplies because Natsu would make plenty of mistakes. Juvia had him grab plenty of gag items too. Ranging from googly eyes to wigs, Juvia would make Natsu rotate between different 'finishing touches' each time he messed up. Happy and Juvia had a great time laughing at each of them.

Juvia just got out of the bath that Natsu prepared, Juvia planned to have a sleepover at Natsu's house so Juvia had him get some pajamas to wear.

"Natsu? Can you dry Juvia's hair?"

"As you wish." Natsu came over with a brush obediently—the result of five hours of reminding.

"Seems like you finally got it."

"Just so you know, I wouldn't do this to anyone but you." Natsu leaned in close and took in one of Juvia's wet locks. "You're my lovely princess after all." Natsu's left hand heated up gently while his right that was holding the brush and ran it down Juvia's hair. Juvia shivered at the sudden warmth that washed over Juvia's back.

"Ar—aren't you stepping o—out of bounds?"

"I'm just doing my duty." Natsu gingerly grabbed another rope of hair, as if treating each strand like treasure. For someone that was clumsily doing housework, he's doing a wonderful job at drying Juvia's hair, his fire wasn't burning Juvia's hair for some reason and the hand movements tells Juvia that this isn't the first time he's done this.

"Have you done this before?"

"Mira forced me to when we're younger, she was even saying that it'll help me in the future, never expect it to be true."

"Then Juvia must thank her, this feels lovely." Juvia cooed into Natsu's care. For the next couple of minutes or so, Juvia closed her eyes, letting Natsu dry Juvia's hair, not even aware of the sleepy side effects. Juvia should make him do this more often.

When Juvia came to, Juvia found herself feeling refreshed and sleeping on Natsu's chest. Though he should be the one waking Juvia up, Juvia will let this slide. Juvia pecked him on the cheeks. This week is the best!

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Sorry for having bigger gaps between each chapter, the heat in Hong Kong is destroying my enthusiasm or motivation to write, it's one of the two. I know that the weather over here isn't as bad as some parts of the world, but still, doesn't mean it's not hot over here!**

 **I also have some personal health problems, let's just say sitting inside all day because of summer vacation isn't too good for me, so I'm taking like thirty minute walks three times a week. This just exacerbating the summer heat to be even more unbearable.**

 **Lastly, I said this before but, I feel like this story is growing stagnant, just each chapter is starting to blend together. Because of this, I'm losing interest in this story. However! I will see this story to the end! I'm tired of picking up a project and not finishing it. Plus, since this is the first time I'm writing for an audience rather than for myself, it gives me more obligation to wrap this up. Hopefully it'll be good.**

 **That being said, perhaps you guys can give some good ideas for chapters until I figure out how to work out the proposal and the wedding part of the story.**

 **Until then, hope you enjoyed, sorry for rambling so much, please let me know what you think of the chapter!**


	30. Chapter 30: His Move

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

The guild is much less active since we're now in the coldest winter months, many people will just stay inside the guild all day, chugging beers like water, joking and laughing without restraint. Juvia can only make out two people that wasn't affected by the cold, Natsu and Gray. The two was still the same as ever, throwing insults at each other in rapid succession. Fists would fly, followed by kicks and claims of bravado. Unfortunately, Erza is away on a job, so only Master can stop the two without some injuries. Sadly, he's too busy drinking and peeping at women to take notice of the rampage Natsu and Gray is on.

"Hey Juvia, do you think that we should stop them?" Lucy walked over to Juvia's table with a plate of pasta and a cup of hot tea.

"Perhaps, but Juvia doesn't want to stop Natsu's fun. What should we do?" Juvia took another mouthful out of the warm cup of milk while admiring Natsu's battle movements.

"You say that but, aren't they getting too out of control?" The rivals escalated to using magic instead of just brawling, causing even more damage to guild property. "Master is going get mad."

"Then, let's stop them." Juvia placed down her cup and gestured Lucy to follow Juvia. "Natsu! You're getting out of hand, Juvia can tolerate it if you're not using magic. However, Juvia can't overlook this! Stop this at once!"

"You too Gray! You're overdoing it as well!"

"But Juvia!" Natsu took the opportunity to slug a sneak attack on Gray's face. "I was winning!" Before Gray could bounce back and hit Natsu, Juvia grabbed Natsu by the ear and pulled out the guild.

"Come with Juvia, clearly we need to have a talk."

"Oww! Slow down! My ear!"

"If it didn't hurt, Juvia wouldn't do it." Once Juvia dragged Natsu outside, Juvia release her grip off Natsu's reddening ear.

"Did you really have to pull that hard? My ears were coming off."

"If you didn't start using magic, Juvia wouldn't have batted an eye, you went too far, Master will have a heart attack if you're not careful."

"Why? Gramps is still healthy."

"Not if you keep having him replace tables and chairs. Or walls. And floors…also the—"

"I get it! Sheesh! I'll try to tone it down."

"Good." Natsu finished massaging his ear and turned to Juvia.

"Say Juvia."

"What is it?"

"Do you want to go on a date?" Natsu just said some incredible words like it's nothing. Our first official date! Other times, we just went around and had fun. Though it can be treated as a date, this is the first date that Natsu has ever mentioned, we've been dating since fall and its already February.

"Really!? Juvia would love to!" Juvia leaned forward and ended up shocking Natsu.

"Ye—yeah."

"When?"

"How's tomorrow sound?"

"Great! I—if you don't mind…we can start right now…"

"No, that would mess with my plan, I'll pick you up at twelve. For now, let's just go back inside." Natsu wrapped an arm over Juvia, getting rid of the slight shivering that Juvia didn't know she had.

"Yes…"

Juvia didn't really do much for the rest of the day, her mind was too focused on the fact that Natsu is taking Juvia on a date, what to wear, what's going to happen, why is Natsu doing this out of the bue? Does he also think that our relationship is getting stagnant? Before Juvia knew it, darkness draped the sky and Natsu is walking Juvia home.

"Where are we going tomorrow? Can you tell Juvia?"

"You'll just have to wait."

"Then can you tell Juvia why you invited Juvia all of the sudden?"

"Ever since Christmas, we haven't done anything together, we've been busy with doing jobs and new year celebration was a guild event, so we didn't spend time as much as I wanted. Sooo, yeah, that's about it."

"Juvia never would've thought that you cared about these kinds of things."

"I'm not that dumb."

"That's surprising, at times you're sharp, other times, you're so dense."

"Is that wrong?"

"No, Juvia loves the different sides of Natsu, especially when you're doing something you're not used to, it's like a present that keeps on changing."

"You're weird."

"But you love Juvia's kind of weird right?" Natsu gave Juvia his gorgeous smile in response to Juvia's teasing one.

"I can't get enough of it." We finally reached the Fairy Hills front door. When we first started dating, Juvia would hate to separate, but now, Juvia got used to it. "Good night, I'll come pick you up, just don't take too long in deciding what to wear."

"And _you_ don't come here late, don't ruin our first official date."

"Got it."

"Good night."

* * *

This is the worst! Just Juvia's luck, of course a blizzard would form during such an important day, now everything is ruined! Natsu wasted all his preparation. Juvia is wearing a winter coat, mittens, a warm hat, a scarf and a pair of thick, wooly trousers due to the cold, coincidentally, it's also the clothes Juvia was planning to wear. But now everything is ru—

"Juvia! You ready?" Natsu's voice penetrated through the howling winds and the hum of the heaters, making Juvia rush out and confront the cold.

"Natsu! What are you doing here!?"

"I'm here to pick you up of course!" Natsu said incredulously.

"In this weather!?"

"Just come!" Natsu forcefully grabbed Juvia's hand and pulled her along the path of melted snow. "Are you cold?"

"A bit." Natsu stopped dragging Juvia along and knelt on the wet grass.

"Get on." Once Juvia climbed on Natsu's back, any little discomfort from the cold vanished.

"Everything is closed in this weather, where are we going?"

"In the woods obviously!"

"For a date!?"

"I love weird remember?"

"What is there to do in there?"

"You'll see." Natsu took Juvia down a path that she's never seen before, the trees were packed denser than any other part of the woods that Juvia has been to, the roots mingling with each other, weaving a web of curiosity. This was only visible thanks to Natsu's heat that was melting the hip-deep snow. Every one of Juvia's prodding questions were brushed away, surprising Juvia of how tight-lipped Natsu is being.

Natsu stopped in front of a cave entrance, Juvia has recalled any guild members telling Juvia of this cave. Then again, they didn't tell Juvia of the dense trees, so Juvia was curious as to what's inside.

"We'll start from here." Natsu let Juvia down. "Let's go."

"There isn't a bear inside the cave, right?"

"No, and you'll know why." When Juvia stepped inside, she felt like she just walked past a barrier. Natsu grinned at Juvia's shocked expression. "Pretty dense magic power in here huh?" Despite what he said, Juvia wasn't anxious at what was deeper in the cave. Partly because Natsu was with Juvia, the other thing was that the magic that Juvia feels is strangely familiar.

"What's in here?"

"Just get going. Oh yeah, you can take off your coat, it should be warm in here." Juvia took off the restricting padding and true to Natsu's words, it wasn't cold at all in the cave. Natsu took Juvia's hand into his and led Juvia down a brightening pathway. As we got closer, Juvia realized the nature of the light, it was made from magic, warm and gentle. The path widened to a room. Right at the centre, was the crystal tree we found on the quest to get a gemstone. It was much smaller than the one we've found but, the presence it gave off wasn't inferior by any means. Below the tree, was a set of table and chairs with steaming food alright laid out.

"How did you get this to grow? And where did the food come from?"

"Mira cooked the food, I kept it warm. As for the tree, I figured out that the seed fed on emotions as well as magic. So, I choose to pour my love for you in it. Then, it sprouted, so I found this cave for it to grow. Ever since then, I came here every now and then to check on the progress, it didn't do much until I thought of you, then it would grow a bit. That's how visiting this place became a daily thing."

"Can Juvia try it?"

"Sure!" Juvia thought up of the time we spent together. As always, a warm bubbly feeling rose from Juvia's heart. The tree grew bright with a sun-like luster, painting the walls white with radiance. "Shall we have lunch before we continue our day?

"Yes!" The meals were defiantly made by Mira, having tasted it so many times in her cooking lessons, there's no way Juvia can mistaken them for any other cooking, and it's as good as ever. While we ate, Natsu made Juvia laugh with his silly stories and Juvia shared about the jobs she's been on without Natsu. If this is just the start of our day, Juvia can't wait for the rest!

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, Juvia just finished washing the dishes."

"I already said you didn't need to do that."

"Too late, Juvia finished." Natsu handed Juvia the clothes she took off upon entering the cave. Soon, Juvia was back on Natsu's back and going back out. "Where are we heading now?"

"To play with animals."

"What animal stays out in the blizzard?"

"It's because we're in a blizzard, we can find it. Just wait, I know you'll love it." Juvia can't see anything, though the blizzard seemed to have calmed down somewhat, it was still a raging mess. During the entire trip, Juvia would wonder what kind of animal we will see and tug on Natsu's scarf as to tell him that Juvia is still a bit cold. Then, he would emit more heat, erasing all of Juvia discomfort. Occasionally, Juvia would see a faint silhouette hiding in the snow, getting Juvia's hopes up that our trip will some be over. However, it turns out to be snowman a kid made or a bush void of any leaves, it was frustrating honestly. The fact that we can't talk well because of the raging winds made the wait even more unbearable and Natsu can feel Juvia's troubles. It was sweet of him to try help Juvia by reassuring that we're almost there and shifted his weight in a way that encourages Juvia to sink deeper in his scarf—Juvia still can't find a scarf better than his.

* * *

A soft cry stood out from the roaring wind. We were in a snowy field, Juvia has no idea when the trees went away due to the poor visibility but, that didn't matter because Natsu's slowing footsteps told Juvia we're here. A group of silhouettes—Two big, two small—came closer to us. Natsu let Juvia down and pushed Juvia towards the shadows. It wasn't long until Juvia saw a herd of deer walk towards Juvia. They were pure white with a pair of lovely blue eyes. What was truly magnificent, is the antlers the male had. A tree of beautiful blue grew from the male deer's head, semi-transparent and without imperfections. Each tip of every horn, was finished with a different colour, all of them bright and bewitching.

"These are friends that I found not too long ago, they seem to really curious."

"Juvia can see that." The two younger deer were sniffing at Juvia's trousers and nuzzling her gloves. "Awfully cute these two." Juvia stroked the back of the fawns, making them cry happily. Juvia knelt down and the fawns slept on Juvia's lap. The parents were surrounding Natsu without being cautious at all.

"Let's play a bit, we did come all the way here." The deer shot up at alarming speed and dragged the two of us further in the fields. After a while the male deer formed a beach ball sized orb and fired it to Natsu. Natsu hit it back to the kids, they headbutted the orb to Juvia. So that's what Natsu means by playing, Juvia launched the orb two the female deer, while thinking how strange this situation is. Fun, but weird.

By the time we finished playing, the blizzard has died down to a gentle snow fall; the dark sky with countless stars told Juvia the time. After saying goodbye to the herd, we walked hand in hand back to Natsu's house.

"What did you think about today?"

"Extremely fun, though unexpected as a date."

"I got one last surprise for you when we come back."

"Just how long have you been planning this?"

"I did get some help from the stripper."

"You asked Gray for help!?"

"Only for you, no one else! Be—besides, he said he owe me one."

"What did he do?"

"You'll see it just about…now." Natsu pointed to his house, or rather, houses. One was the same one Juvia was used to seeing, cute and homey. The other, was at least twice the size of the old one. It was primarily made of stone, with clay slates forming the roof. A balcony hung from the second floor, and a front porch stood proudly at the bottom. From what Juvia can gather, the porch was the only thing made from wood—save the door and windows.

"How did you finish this so quickly?"

"I didn't only get help from Gray."

"But still, Juvia was only gone for two weeks."

"Are you just gonna complain and not check out the inside?"

"Fine." Natsu guided Juvia inside the house. The living room was plain with no decorations at all, only consisting of a hearth plus a couch without a coffee table.

"Not much to see."

"I wanted you to design the inside."

"You didn't even paint the walls!" Though the house was made of stone, a layer was constructed between the stone to allow for more customization. Except, only a sad plaster wall stood.

"Just wait for the bedroom!" Natsu insisted, pushing Juvia down a corridor and up a flight of stairs, turning deaf to Juvia's complaints about how dry everything looks. Though, that was just for show, Juvia was more than overwhelmed from the construction time of the building to the freedom Natsu gave Juvia to decorate the house freely. We stopped at a red door with 'Natsu and Juvia' as a doorplate. Opening it, Juvia found a large bed with a massive book lying on it. Juvia flipped opened the book to find that the first two pages were already filled with memories. Natsu took control of Juvia's hand and flipped over to the third page.

"Look into this one." Natsu said, embracing Juvia from behind. Juvia did as told, tapping lightly on the photo, bringing Juvia into Natsu's memories, and by a certain extension: Juvia's memories.

"I'm gonna miss you for two weeks." This was the time when Juvia was about to leave for her job with Wendy and Lisanna. It was slightly strange seeing Juvia in Natsu's eyes, Juvia would focus on the minor details of Juvia's appearance, the slightly messy fridge; off-centred coat—just the most ridiculous stuff. Which is the least of Juvia's concerns, knowing what's going to happen.

"Don't worry, Juvia will come back soon. It's not like you're the only one suffering. Juvia will miss you a bunch."

"In that case," Natsu's voice became more assertive, leaning closer to Juvia. Re-living this part and seeing Juvia's blushing face for the first made Juvia realized how bad it was, just like a ripe tomato. "here's a parting gift." Juvia saw nothing as Natsu finally kissed Juvia, all the while holding Juvia tightly. When Natsu released his grip from Juvia's head, the mess that was Juvia's flustered face just intensifies the feelings Juvia has now seeing this scene again. "I love you." The surrounding started fading, blurring together.

The shock didn't end there, once Juvia was free from the book's message, Juvia found out that Natsu was kissing Juvia while Juvia's mind was occupied with the memory. It wasn't just a light kiss either, this one conveyed more passion than usual. Natsu's tongue brushed against Juvia's for the umpteenth time, tracing the canal he was thoroughly familiar with. Something hot trailed down Juvia's throat and to her heart, if it wasn't on fire before, it is now. Natsu took it a step further by pressing Juvia's body close to his. After getting over the shock, Juvia move tongue around and re-familiarize herself with Natsu's mouth.

"I love you," Natsu said after releasing Juvia. "more than anything else in the world."

"Same here, Juvia finally found happiness and she won't ever let it go." Maybe Juvia plans on moving in earlier than before. This house does need a royal make-over. For now, Juvia will make some food, this day couldn't be any better.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I'm getting somewhere in this story! It feels like picking away at a mountain with a toothpick when I first started, glad to see that it's finally accelerating. Thankfully, I am learning about pacing in a story, so hopefully the next story shouldn't be as bad.**

 **With this chapter, I'm done with the winter season, considering on skipping spring and straight to summer and move towards the seventh of July , Natsu's birthday. But, we'll see.**

 **Thanks for the concern about my health by the way! Surprising at the community so far, pretty friendly as far as I can tell. But rest assured, I'm feeling better from the exercise I'm getting, turns out, being fat and sitting all day isn't too good for you.**

 **My personal health aside, I'm looking to end this story soon, so, please tell me of any weird or badly written parts of the story, I already have one chapter I need to fix thanks to a person in the reviews. Also, I'm thinking of doing a questionnaire at the end of the story to ask on your opinions of the story overall, what do you think of that? Judging from the poll results—only five people voted—I don't think many people will even do it, but I really want feedback so I'm torn whether I should do it or not.**

 **Also, since I'm planning ending this story soon, please give me suggestions on what to write next. Please keep in mind that I have the final say. However, you guys can influence my decision the throwing out a interesting concept or pairing.**

 **Until then, hope you enjoyed! And have a great day!**


	31. Chapter 31: 7th of July

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

"You really are going all out for Natsu's birthday." Levy said, peering at the list of things Juvia wanted to prepare for. Some great food, decorations, the best cake Juvia can find and so on.

"Of course, Juvia hasn't celebrated Natsu's birthday before, might as well make it a memorable one. "Juvia first needs to ask everyone to participate in the party, can you help Juvia?"

"Sure!" Juvia went around the guild, asking everyone to prepare a present and to keep the party a secret. We had do this now because it's one of the rare occasion where Natsu isn't here to overhear our objective.

"Levy you need to remember not to give Natsu a book, you know he wouldn't read a book, it'll just end up being a decoration."

"That's fine isn't it? You can read it."

"That's not giving Natsu a present then, it's a present for Juvia."

"I suppose that's true." Levy place a hand on her hip while looking at the ceiling, "Then, do you have any ideas for a good gift?"

"Let's see, Natsu's current fishing pole is quite old, Juvia thinks it can't stand reeling in a large fish. And Natsu knows it too, when we go fishing together, he would avoid place with large fish and settle for places with smaller ones."

"That's it! I'll get him a new fishing pole then, thanks Juvia!" Levy walked off to join her team.

"You're welcome. Also, you don't have to worry about getting it now, there's two weeks left, take your time."

"I will." Juvia squinted at the crowd of people in the guild, looking for Mira. Once Juvia found her, Juvia pushed her way to the bar counter.

"Juvia? Do you need something?"

"Yes, Juvia is planning on ordering a cake for Natsu's birthday, do you think you can come with Juvia to pick a good one?"

"I'm sorry Juvia, the guild is really busy right now, our hands are tied." Mira turned to Lisanna and Kinana—both of them struggling to keep up with the drinks and food orders. "I know! Why don't you ask Erza? She can help you. Though, she only has an expert eye for the cake she loves, so you can only order a strawberry cheesecake. But, if that's fine with you, Erza is really dependable in that regard."

"Thanks for the advice, Juvia thinks she'll do just that."

"Then, I'll call her. Erzaaa!" Mira called out to the happy red head slowly savoring a slice of cake. Erza turned around to see Mira's beckoning hands. Erza reluctantly finished the cake in a hurry and made her way to us, the crowd parted way for Erza upon seeing Erza's displeased look.

"Is Master looking for me?"

"No, nothing serious like that, Juvia wants your help in choosing a good cake for Natsu's birthday."

"But, I can only help with one type of cake."

"Please don't worry, Juvia is planning on getting a strawberry cheesecake."

"Is that true!? Then, allow me to show you the wonders of the ultimate cake!" Erza's determination ignited, voice filled with pride. Juvia is starting to have second thoughts as Erza grabbed Juvia by the hand and left the guild with haste.

Before long, Juvia was browsing at a catalogue of cakes available at Erza's usual bakery. For some strange reason, the catalogue only features strawberry cheesecake while Juvia could see other variations of cake being displayed. The store clerk seemed to notice Juvia's confusion and explained.

"This is Erza-sama's private menu, so you can only find one type of cake here. If you like, we can give you the regular catalogue." Juvia knows that Erza was a valued customer in this place, but to have a custom menu only she can order from is a bit much. Then Juvia looked around and saw a carboard cut-out of Erza promoting her favourite cake. These people really are taking advantage of Erza's popularity…

"Oh, about that, I get free cake delivered to Fairy Hills every week." Erza explained the advertisement. "I also get money too but, I said I make enough money, so they only have to give me cake. They won't agree for some reason."

"That's because we can't treat such an important person to our business like that! Our sales have increased by fifty percent just from you endorsing our products!"

"Mails asking me to promote other businesses won't stop because of that." Erza said with a wry smile. "Anyway, Juvia, do you see anything that catches your eye? I can guarantee that all the cakes here are top-notch."

"Juvia will leave it up to you, Juvia is looking for something huge, lots of people are planning to join Natsu's party, so Juvia will feel bad if there isn't enough for everyone."

"In that case, how about this one." Erza turned the pages of the thirty-paged book of non-stop strawberry cheesecakes and stopped at the final page. A five-tiered cake of masterful craft was being displayed proudly. Topped by flowers made of icing, each tier sported a different theme that escalated with luxury, ending with a ring of strawberries and what could be described as a fairy dancing at the centre. 'Quintet Surprise' was the name of the cake. A detailed description of the cake along with the dimensions was hand-written in fine ink and expert hands.

"Have you ever ordered this one before?"

"No, this one was added recently. Also, it would take me a long time to finish it if I were to get one."

"How long would this take to make if Juvia orders it now?"

"Let's see, considering our store's requests, it'll take three weeks. But, since you're Erza-sama's companion, we can do it within a week."

"Juvia doesn't need it that quickly, can you have it done two weeks from now around nine in the morning? Juvia will come pick it up at that time. Also, please write happy birthday on a plate."

"Certainly." The clerk started to write a slip to confirm the order. "If you like, we can deliver the cake to you, you'll have to pay an extra fee. I'm afraid that a cake this big doesn't cover the delivering exemption we have with Erza-sama."

"That's fine, Juvia will take you up on that offer, Juvia is more than willing to pay."

"Thank You for your purchase, please pay a two thousand ordering fee. If you want to cancel the order, please come back with this slip and we'll refund the money." Juvia exchanged money for a slip that Juvia tucked into her purse. "Upon delivery, we'll collect the remaining money. Until then, Thank You for patronage!"

Once we left the bakery for the guild, Juvia stopped by an arts-and-craft store to look for a massive card. Juvia plans to have everyone write a message for Natsu. Juvia will have to mail it to other guilds for them to write a message. Natsu's circle of friends is a bit overwhelming, Juvia even has to mail it to the princess for the royal family to write a message. Since the card is too big for the store to have any stock, Juvia followed instructions to find a factory to have them cut out a card.

Standing taller than Juvia, as wide as her arm to her heart, the card Juvia had the factory worker cut out was really thick to support its own weight. Juvia had two of these cards so that Juvia can make a booklet out of them. The card was a nice pink, a bit lighter than Natsu's hair.

Being held together by metal hinges, Juvia wrote a letter to the princess—explaining the purpose of the massive card as well as requesting the first page isn't to be touched since Reedus-san is drawing a cover—and mailed the card along with the letter to the princess via a special postal service that has the authority to mail to the royal palace—it would be disrespectful to not have the royal family be the first one to write a message after all. Thankfully, the princess sent a letter to Juvia beforehand so, the administration process was effortless.

Juvia's day one preparation was almost finished, she just needs to see how many people are coming to the party so Juvia can make sure everyone has enough food to eat. So, Juvia sent more letters to the other guilds, asking how many people is planning on attending to Natsu's birthday party. Will the guild even be big enough for this party? Maybe Juvia was too ambitious this time…

* * *

Juvia underestimated the sheer number of people attending to the party! All the prevalent members from each guild agreed to join the party, and the princess herself replied by saying that she's coming as well! At least it's just Hisui-sama coming, but now Juvia must think about the security of the party! What if something happens and Fairy Tail is blamed? Then our name will be dragged through mud! The princess did say in the letter that she'll be travelling incognito, but still! This escalated to something out of Juvia's expectations! What should Juvia do? This could be ba—

"Juvia, we're all finished writing our message." Lucy announced with Gray who was carrying the card. Sadly, Juvia was too busy going through the name list with Levy to process what Lucy had said. "Juvia?" A nudge at Juvia's side snapped her out of the trance.

"Yes?"

"I said we're all done, Reedus also finished the cover." Gray turned the card around for Juvia to see. It had an elegant border framing the card, right top, was the symbol of Fiore drawn that branched down to guild marks of the participants 'Happy Birthday Natsu!' was written in fine calligraphy was on the centre. A print of a paw was just above the word 'Happy'. A dragon was sleeping at the bottom of the card—a fire one judging from the red scales.

"It's lovely, can you mail it to Saber Tooth for Juvia?"

"What are you talking about? You haven't written your message yet." Lucy reminded, holding out a pen for Juvia.

"Re—really? Juvia could've sworn that she's written it already."

"You didn't." After a brief pause, Lucy spoke again. "After you write your message, go back home and rest, you're too stressed to do any work, I'll do it for you, Gray can mail the card."

"But Juvia—"

"Natsu will get worried and he'll notice, he's really sharp at times." Those words reminded Juvia of the promise she made to Natsu, and all resistance melted.

"Thank You…"

"You can count on us all well you know, we all want to make this party a great one." Juvia picked up the pen while Gray turned to the first page. Amidst all the unique handwriting, there was a space in the centre that was left blank. Gray told Juvia that it was reserved for Juvia. Without needing to think about what to write, Juvia written 'You were the best thing to happen to Juvia, Juvia loves you and hopes that you'll be with Juvia forever.' After adding a signature at the end of the message, Gray closed the card and left with Elfman to mail it.

"Then, Juvia will get some rest at the infirmary, if you need something, please tell Juvia."

"We will, rest easy."

* * *

It's been a week since Juvia started to rely on her friends a bit more, Erza was collecting the present from the early members, Elfman just left to mail the card to Mermaid Heel. Some were working on the decorations, other were thinking on the layout of the table and chairs, Loretta was practicing with other people that can play instruments. Now, we were talking about the matter of food.

"Mira, do you think we should cook the meal or have someone cook the food and deliver it to the guild?"

"Well, it's more work to cook ourselves but, since it's a special day, I don't think anyone will mind. We also cook for the other birthday parties at the guild, it's basically a tradition by now."

"Then there's no need to order food."

"But still, we have a lot of food to cook."

"Everyone can help."

"That's true."

"Bisca? Do you think you can provide some meat for us to cook with?" Juva called out to the couple that was watching over their daughter draw decorations.

"No problem!"

"Then, we get use some of our vegetables from our patch." Mira said. "Now all we need is to buy the other ingredients from the market."

"All is left is the presents, right?"

"Yes, we can rest for a day or two, the cooking will have to start afterwards."

* * *

Today is finally the day! Juvia requested the helpers to come around six, the guests are to arrive at ten, same with the guild members, Natsu wakes up at that time so we have four hours to get thing ready. We moved the tables and chairs in to the side. The food is being heated—some being cooked right now. Loretta and her team were tuning instruments. All the presents were being stacked in a pile, just below the stage. Once we were done, we just need to wait for the guests to arrive.

"Princess, I still think that coming all the way out here is dangerous." A rough voice got past the guild doors.

"It'll be fine, didn't father say to look around the kingdom, to see the state of our lands first-hand?"

"That may be, however, with only me as the guard is too dangerous."

"Arcadios! I want to use this time to make some friends, being stuck in dealing with people wearing a mask is tiring. Yet, despite knowing my status, they were indifferent towards me. I want more people I can be truthful to, and Fairy Tail appears to be a great start. To be honest, seeing their guild being so lively makes me envious. Do you think you can deal with my selfishness again? Can you forgive me for discarding the role of 'princess' for today?"

"…forgive me, I didn't realize your troubles."

"It's fine, this is something I hid with everything I had, only my father knew. But, that's not the point, let's go inside."

"As you wish." The guild doors finally opened. Revealing a bulky man wearing lightweight clothing with a sword at his side. Beside him, Hisui-sama walked in wearing a plain white summer dress that you can find anywhere. A sun hat was used to hide shield the summer rays. In her hands, was a small, rectangle box; green cover, pink base.

"Welcome, please hand the present to Erza." Hisui-sama gave the task to her knight. "But still, Hisui-sama is early, Juvia thought that the time for guests to arrive was set at ten, why are you two hours early?"

"Can I ask you to not give me special treatment?"

"Is that okay? Juvia will tell that to the other if so."

"It's fine." After giving Juvia's guildmates the instructions, Hisui breathed a sigh of relief.

"We came early because I want to get a good look at what birthday party looks like."

"You mean you've never been to one?"

"Only the ones held by nobles, I never been to one that can be considered normal."

"Then Juvia is sorry to disappoint, our guild and 'normal' doesn't mesh well." Hisui giggled at Juvia's remark.

"I suppose that's true. Perhaps you might even exceed my expectations." The princess said, looking at the decorations around the guild.

"Is anything wrong?"

"Pardon me, I was just looking around, I don't see these things often."

"Then would you like to look at the food beforehand? Juvia is sure something will catch your eye."

"If it isn't a bother, please do." Juvia let Mira guide HIsui to the kitchen—Arcadios tagging along. Juvia got back to work at setting up the tables. It wasn't for another hour until another guest arrived. Though Juvia was reluctant to let a guest help out, Hisui insisted that she help set-up the venue.

"Natsu-san!" The doors slammed open. "Huh? Where is he?" Sting-san said.

"I told you, my memory isn't lying about us being early." A man in a fancy-looking hat said.

"Sting becomes like this when Natsu is involved after all…" Lector-san explained.

"Frosch thinks so too!"

"Hey!"

"Ho—how about we get inside first." A tuff of white hair slowly turned the Yukino-san as she pushed past a few bodies.

"Welcome!" Erza greeted. "You can hand the gifts to me."

"All of us choose one gift to represent our guild." Sting replied.

"That's fine," Erza said, receiving the present. "since you all are early, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the party starts, Natsu wakes up at ten normally. You're free to use the games machines we placed or explore the town until then."

"Or," Gajeel popped out of nowhere. "you can fight with me."

"Gajeel, don't you have things to do?"

"Done them."

"At least don't make our guest do something so stu—"

"I'm in, of course, Rogue too right?" Seeing the nod from the dragon slayer, Gajeel's magic started to leak.

"Gi hi, Salamander had all the fun last time. You two, follow me!" The Saber Tooth members split into two groups, one that followed to see the sight, the others went to see the town. Leaving us to continue setting up.

No one else came early, all the guests and Fairy Tail members more or less arrived on time, while they were shocked at Hisui's presence at first, they soon quickly adapted, and the guildhall became rowdy, jokes flew around; the socializing began. At the same time, Juvia and her team just finished placing the food on the tables. All is left is to wait for Natsu to arrive.

"Good morning!" The doors were kicked open again like usual, Juvia's boyfriend and his companion entered. The entire guildhall had one, universal response.

"Happy Birthday!"

"So that's why people from other guilds are here, I thought I smelt something different than usual." Juvia pulled Natsu to the huge cake tower.

"Make a wish." After a brief silence, Natsu sucked up the candle flames and grinned.

"Let's party!" The hall went wild with cheers and hoisted mugs; Loretta's taem started to play music, her magic made everything come to life. Everyone was handed a slice of cake to enjoy along with the food that was cooked, free for everyone. Since Juvia knew that she can't monopolize Natsu, Juvia quickly separated from him and went to have fun, leaving Natsu in a crowd of people that gave him birthday wishes and checked out what presents he received. Out of Juvia's eye, she could see Hisui laughing without reserve, no hands were in the way of showing her teeth and mouth.

"Looks like the party is a success." Cana said, downing another bottle of strong liquor.

"It seems so, the two weeks of stress was worth it. Juvia is glad."

"You did go all-out." Looking around, Juvia saw countless smiles; heard endless laughter; felt bottomless delight. Experiencing this, Juvia knew that, Juvia succeeded. Now that the crowd has thinned, Juvia took the card that travelled all over Fiore and advanced towards Natsu, everyone made way for Juvia upon seeing the large card.

"Natsu, all of us helped to make this, including the people that couldn't make it here." Juvia presented the card to Natsu that became speechless at seeing the hundreds of messages written in the card. "Happy birthday Natsu."

"Thank You…" Natsu managed, he picked up the card and started to read all the messages written.

"Do that once you go back home, it'll take all day."

"I guess." Natsu grinned again. "Thanks guys!"

* * *

Seeing that the party is reaching its end, Juvia told Mira that Juvia needs to prepare for her final gift as well as having asking Mira to make an excuse before rushing off to her room. Juvia snatched the bag she prepared earlier from her bed and ran to Natsu's home. There, Juvia made sure to mask her scent after a hot shower so that Natsu will be thoroughly surprised. Juvia waited in the bedroom, waiting for her prey to come.

"Man, that was a crazy party!" Here he is! "Even the princess came."

"Aye!"

"Sad that Juvia had to leave early."

"Aye…"

"Tired? See you tomorrow buddy."

"Aye…" The door to Natsu's bedroom opened slowly, each degree made was nerve-racking, like a waiting for a lover's reply.

"Welcome back!" Juvia shouted, excited to see her lover befuddled.

"Juvia!? What are you doing here? Mira said you have to prepare for a trip."

"Juvia did," Juvia pointed to the bag she brought with her. "Juvia is here to give to one last birthday present."

"What do you mean? The set of clothes wasn't good enough?"

"That's not it, your last present is Juvia herself."

"Still not getting it." Juvia sighed and reached for her bag.

"What Juvia means is that," Juvia pulled out a pillow. "Juvia," Then, Juvia pulled out pajamas "is," A doll popped out from the bag. "moving," A toothbrush with cup came next. "in," Juvia produced some spare clothes until the movers gets their job done. "with," Juvia placed some cosmetics on a night stand. "you." Juvia kissed Natsu on the cheeks, taking advantage of his confused state. "Did Juvia break you?" Juvia asked after seeing that Natsu didn't move for a good ten seconds or so. "Juvia will be troubled if that happened." Suddenly, Natsu grabbed Juvia's shoulders at frightening speeds, drawing a cry from Juvia.

"You mean it!?" Natsu smiled—fangs showing—with an excited expression, the weariness he had from the party disappeared.

"Y—yes." Natsu's grip on Juvia's shoulders turned to a bear hug.

"Thank You, this is the best present ever."

"You're welcome…" Juvia slowly wrapped her arms around Natsu. "Though Juvia isn't sure if this counts, in a sense, this is a present for Juvia too."

"It doesn't matter as long you're here." Natsu pushed out of the hug and pulled into a kiss, to which Juvia gladly returned. "I love you."

"Juvia loves you too. However, go take a shower! Juvia can smell the sweat from the fight you had today. Juvia won't allow our first night sleeping on this bed with you smelling like battle!"

"You got it!" The child ran out the door and to the bathroom. Some things will never change, now will they? At least, it's something that Juvia loves with all her heart.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! The longest chapter to date! I considered going all the way to 5k but, most of it will just be filler at that point. I will admit, there was less emphasis on the party itself. I was hoping to publish this in-line with my own birthday—to contrast my extremely dull one with Natsu's lively one. However, was a few days late...I blame the heat.**

 **I will apologies for rushing things a bit lately, I'm sure you guys know that I'm looking to start a new story. Another creatives will know: starting a new project is generally more fun than working on an old one. It's at the point where I'm not proofreading as meticulously as before. So, if you spot anything wrong, _p_ _lease_ let me know.**

 **On other note, feel free to give me suggestions on what pairing to write about next! I'm still thinking on what to do and I'm generally a person that's easily influenced given a good reason. So, shoot away!**

 **Until then, hope you enjoyed, let me know what you think!**


	32. Chapter 32: Dream Comes True

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

Sandwiches packed, tea poured, all set! Juvia closed the picnic basket lid after confirming all the contents, we're ready to enjoy the summer scenery! Only three days after Natsu's birthday, Juvia officially moved in, all her furniture along with miscellaneous objects got delivered, save the horse painting Juvia bought on impulse, Juvia gave it away to Bisca. To celebrate, Natsu decided that we go on a picnic in a flower field. According to him, it was fairly close by so transport wasn't needed, as such Juvia didn't need to worry about the food getting cold. Then again, Natsu is carrying the food, it shouldn't become cold no matter how much time has passed. Having one arm occupied with the basket and the other seized by Juvia, Natsu guided us to the flower field.

"I still can't believe we're living together now, how's the past few days treating you?" Natsu said over a snapping twig.

"Perfect." Juvia then thought about it for a bit longer and frowned. "Well, Juvia could do without Happy's teasing remarks."

"Which is why you had him leave for this trip right?"

"Exactly." Juvia couldn't help but smile knowing that Juvia has the dragon slayer to herself for the day without being interrupted. "How long do we have to walk?"

"Not for long, around half an hour."

"That's pretty far…"

"Is it? I thought it was fine since it's us."

"That doesn't mean the hike should be so long!"

"Should we run then?"

"And ruin the food? Of course not!"

"It's fine, if you get tired, I'll carry you."

"Then…Juvia will accept it." We walked for a while to let the atmosphere die off.

"But still, what a great weather to do this!" Natsu looked up at the beams of light that shone past the healthy leaves.

"Juvia knows what you mean, it doesn't seem to be raining anytime soon."

"Your magic is great for planning trips huh?"

"Don't say it like that, it sounds like that's all Juvia can do."

"You know that's not true, it's not just your beauty that I fell in love with, your strength played a big part."

"Co—come to think of it, Juvia never really asked you why you fell in love with Juvia in the first place."

"You didn't?" Juvia shook her head while stepping over a particularly large root. "At the start, I just wanted to cheer you up, like what friends would do. Somewhere along the line, I couldn't keep my eyes off you, just smelling your scent was comforting. It's like your rain magic turned to something that captured me.

"Before long, I wanted to hang out with you a lot more, especially after seeing your smile, it was stunning. And before I knew it, I was willing to do anything to see that smile again. Figuring out my feelings for you was easy, I never felt like that in my entire life, and it matched what Gildarts said about love."

"How can Juvia respond? After hearing you say something like that?" From the heated cheeks and hazy mind, Juvia can tell she's drunk with what Natsu said. It was so much to take in.

"Then you can do it with action." Juvia squeezed Natsu's hand. "I hear you loud and clear." feeling Natsu squeezing back, Juvia felt relieved.

* * *

The forest soon faded, and we were now climbing up a grassy hill with a few rocks strewn about the land. The sky was clear; a warm gust brushed against Juvia's white summer dress and fluttered Natsu's scarf. According to him, past the hill is our destination, so knowing that our journey was ending is a relief. A shame that Natsu didn't carry Juvia—Juvia just wasn't tired—the warmth coming from Natsu's hands was more than enough. Cresting the top of the hill, a field of flowers consumed Juvia's vision, stretching far out in the distance, up to where flowers meets a mountain. The smell was simply chaotic, Juvia can't make out a single flower from smell alone—there simply was too many scents blending into one. The same situation happened just by looking at the flowers, like thousands of prisms scattering light to dots of dazzling colour.

Getting closer, Juvia saw the pollinators, more than Juvia has ever seen. Granted, Juvia didn't see much in her childhood, only drowned ones, so seeing energetic bees and butterflies zip pass Juvia invoked excitement that wasn't present before. It wasn't just limited to those two, more that Juvia can't recognize danced it the air, some in defined patterns, others in more random ways. Regardless, the excitement turned sour slightly seeing their graceful movements, they couldn't have done this when Juvia was around, at least, until Juvia came to Fairy Tail.

"Juvia? You got a sad face; did I do something?" Natsu gripped Juvia's hand tighter, Juvia squeezed back to reassured him that it wasn't anything major.

"Juvia was just…thinking about the past, without you…or Fairy Tail."

"I didn't take you here to be sad." Natsu's voice was stern and is that? Disappointment?

"Sor—sorry…Juvia didn't mean to…" Those eyes are…scary: relentless, wild—an inferno.

"As punishment," Natsu took in a deep breath, before Juvia panicked at the sudden tense vibe, Juvia saw Natsu's fangs slipping out, the way they would when Natsu is doing something cheeky. "I'm eating all of this!" Natsu ran off into the fields once those words left his mouth.

"Wha—get back here! Juvia worked hard on that! Don't rattle the basket too much, it'll ruin the food!" Ashamed for even doubting Natsu, Juvia felt guilty, but, the rumble in Juvia's stomach snapped her out of that, fueling her vigor to catch Natsu. Juvia rushed after him, giving petals to the winds; tailing after the path Natsu made. And what does he mean by eating all of it!? Juvia did all the work! He has no right to claim Juvia's fruits of labour. Once Juvia catches him, he will be punished! To Juvia's surprise, Natsu set the basket down by a tree, allowing Juvia to tackle him down to the flowers. "Caught you mister! Now, suffer Juvia's wrath! Juvia will make you regret pulling off that stu—" Natsu gripped Juvia's side strongly, smirking at something Juvia isn't aware of.

"Before that, here's your reward." This is just like Juvia's dream! Why is this ha—Natsu flipped Juvia over, fanning out Juvia's hair. He smashed his lips to Juvia's before she could even react from the sudden change in position. This kiss was more aggressive, if the previous ones was an ember that made Juvia feel loved, this one was a roaring flame that focused only on burning Juvia with passion that can't be smothered. Juvia tried to wrap her hands around Natsu's head as he played with Juvia's tongue, he grabbed Juvia's wrists and held them to the ground, sucking on Juvia's lower lip, telling Juvia to let him handle everything. So for the next few moments, Juvia became putty, allowing Natsu to do whatever he pleases; brushing Juvia's hair, sniffing her nape; teasing her mouth. All the while Juvia was helpless to do anything but enjoy Natsu's warmth. After Natsu released Juvia, Juvia was making strange noises and avoiding his eyes.

"It's...to—too much…"

"Did I make you forget your past?"

"S—so that was all…for Juvia's sake?"

"Yeah, sorry if I was a bit rough, I wanted to make sure you only focus on the present. Never look back at those times again, I don't want to go further than this. I…I might have a hard time holding back."

Before we had our picnic, Juvia got a glimpse into a dragon's desires. How frightening.

Juvia sat back up and crawled over to the basket and opened the lid. The sandwiches were still fine because of how tightly packed they were. Can't say the same for the salad, it got out of the container it was in, dirtying the other containers but, still edible. The tea and soup were fine—thankfully. Pasta was okay; bread was flawless; skewers were flawless. It seems like the rest of the food was shaken had had the presentation ruined, nothing too problematic.

"You're lucky that the soup didn't spill, or the meal would've been spoilt."

"I already said sorry, didn't I?"

"And that's why Juvia isn't doing too much about it. Just be careful next time."

"I will."

"Good, now let's eat."

It was nice, not caring about anything else in the world and spending time with Natsu. Taking a break after a long of day of unpacking; not worrying about brightening up the house; away from the craziness of Fairy Tail was a beat that's refreshing. All the while enjoying a stunning view; talking with a loved one; having a meal. Maybe we should do this more often…hopefully, we'll go with our kids next time…a—and judging from what happened, what if Natsu lets loose? Can Juvia even handle it?

" _Don't worry, I won't be too rough." Natsu tilted Juvia's head for easy access to her mouth, his other hand was somewhere it shouldn't be, caressing it gently. "You're so cute right now. Can I eat you up?" His words would be filled with impatience. Once Juvia gives him permission, Natsu would become feral. Is this fear? Or arousal? "I'm going in…" His strong hands slithered to Juvia's hips, making sure to brush Juvia's skin along the way._

" _Ple—please do…" Juvia bit the hem of her shirt, expecting the first wave of pain and at the same time, hoping it'll transform to something better._

"Juvia!" Natsu shook Juvia's shoulders forcefully, drawing a screech from Juvia's lips.

"Ye—yes!?"

"Stop spacing out!"

"So—sorry…what were you talking about?" Juvia held her head down in shame, looking at the empty containers of food.

"You didn't even hear that? And wait! Why are your ears red?" Natsu leaned in close. "Are you sick?" his round eyes and soft tone of voice conveyed concern and worry. Juvia's dirty thoughts made Natsu this worried…what should Juvia do?

"No…"

"Are you sure? Let me if something is wrong okay?" Juvia nodded meekly. "Anyway, I was talking about my team wanting to check out our house once we're done remodeling the place, is that alright with you?"

"Why would you ask Juvia's permission for something so trivial?"

"We're a couple remember? I don't want to do something that has to do with the two of us without asking you properly."

"So that's why. Don't worry, Juvia won't mind."

"Great!"

"When will they come?"

"Around…five in the evening."

"Should Juvia cook dinner for them?"

"Why not? It's more fun that way!" Natsu grinned. He stood up and stretched with a groan. "Shall we pack up? The foods gone, or do you want to stay here a bit longer?"

"One last thing!" Juvia pulled out a lacrima that once caused Juvia so much shame. Natsu smiled and walked over. Juvia handed the lacrima to a water doll that held the thing at decent height that can capture our full frame. Natsu place a loving hand on both of Juvia's shoulders; Juvia leaned against Natsu's toned chest. To finish it all off, Natsu plopped his head on Juvia's head, he then took off his scarf and wrapped it around Juvia's neck. Today may not have went the same way as her dream, that may not be a bad thing, with such an unpredictable partner, there's no way Juvia's fantasies can match with the real thing. Which is fine with Juvia, Juvia didn't expect her prince to come in the form of a pink-haired man, and the surprises just keeps getting better.

A flash enveloped our bodies and our smiling faces.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I felt like writing a throwback to an earlier chapter. And reading my earlier work reminded me of something I wanted to do as I was writing this story, I wanted to write a bit more about Juvia's fantasies. However, I'm starting to wrap this story up, so I feel like adding some more delusions here and there would feel out of place considering how's there so less of it in the first place, that's why, when I'm doing my clean-up, I plan on adding some of Juvia's fantasies into places I find appropriate.**

 **Is that something that interests you guys?**

 **Whether I do it or not it entirely up to you guys. Let me know you think.**

 **Speaking of viewer feedback, still looking for suggestions on what to write next! I want more options to choose from. And at the end of the day, these stories serve two major purposes: to entertain, and for me to learn via viewer feedback. So giving me suggestions will give an idea on what you guys want to read, I know I can't satisfy everyone's opinion but I'm at a loss on what to write next. So please hit me with some interesting ideas! I will try to respond on why I chose or didn't choose your idea.**

 **Until then, hope you enjoyed! Have a lovely day!**


	33. Chapter 33: The New Home

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

It's finally complete! Our house no longer looks like construction had just finished. The drywall in our bedroom was given a light blue coat, Juvia's bed replaced the old one we were sleeping on—Natsu agreed that Juvia's bed was comfier—the old one was now moved to a guest room in case we need to host a sleepover or something along those lines happens. The best of all, Juvia doesn't have to worry about rent anymore!

Before Juvia got a chance to admire her hours of planning, Happy came flying in our bedroom with a fish in his paws.

"Do you need anything?"

"Juviaaaa, Natsu got in trouble again, come quick!"

"What did he do this time? He only went on a job that should last for a day."

"He got mad and now he's charged with property damage."

"And Erza is punishing him as we speak?"

"Aye!" Juvia massaged her temple and formulated an answer.

"Juvia understands, let's go before Natsu gets hurt too badly."

"Aye!" Juvia will just have to enjoy her work later, saving Natsu takes priority.

* * *

Seeing Wendy caring for Natsu's wounds told Juvia that she was too late. After greeting her friends, Juvia went to meet Erza to apologize for what Natsu has done.

"Good morning Erza, Juvia hopes that Natsu wasn't too much of a hassle. If so, Juvia is sorry for his actions."

"Juvia, good morning, you came at the right time. I'm sure you heard from Happy."

"Yes. Is Natsu alright?"

"No problem, I just have to teach him how to control his anger."

"What happened exactly?"

"Natsu was reporting to his client that he took care of the Vulcans in the mountains. The client apparently had a bad attitude and berated his fellow villagers. So Natsu destroyed his clients house to 'teach him a lesson'. As you can imagine, Natsu is in trouble because of that."

"That sounds like Natsu…" Juvia can't help you here Natsu.

"He was being a prick!" Natsu insisted, waving his arms about.

"Natsu! Hold still, I'm not done yet." Wendy chided.

"Fine…"

"Anyway," Erza called attention to her again. "as punishment, Natsu isn't allowed to go in solo jobs for a month, possibly longer, depending on how his team performance goes. I hate to ask this of you but, do you think you can keep an eye on Natsu until his probation ends?"

"That's fine, Juvia is slightly responsible for not going with him."

"You had other matters to take care of, the blame isn't on you. If anything, his team members, me should have went with him. Speaking of which, have you finished?"

"Yes! Juvia is ready for your visit anytime!"

"Then, I'll let Gray and Lucy of the news. Sorry to have you cook dinner for us as well."

"No, it's fine! Juvia is happy to have friends come over. Of course, Natsu is as well."

"Then, we'll arrive at around six. Before that, I need to take Natsu to Master's office." Erza tugged Natsu by the scruff and dragged him behind a door, kind of like a lioness picking up a cub. Seeing that there's nothing left to do, Juvia joined her friends in a gossip session.

"Ooh Juvia!" Cana beckoned Juvia to sit down with the group. "We were just talking about you."

"What for?"

"About you moving to live with Natsu."

"What's wrong with that?"

"How is he?"

"Perfect! Natsu does this cute yawn when he wakes up, and his warmth body is always great to cuddle, Juvia didn't need to sleep with a blanket. Also—"

"Not that, I'm not interested in your daily life. I'm talking about your sex life." Cana said bluntly. At least try to say it in a way where Juvia can misinterpreted it!

"That's…"

"An immediate reaction!" Cana hollered. "Your face is even redder than mine! He must be really good then!"

"That's…not…it…"

"Could it be he has a small one? No way!" Cana looked at Master's office door. "Didn't expect a guy like him to be small."

"We…didn't have…se—sex yet…"

"Whaaat!? You haven't? What a waste! You two are out in the woods you know, you can go as wild as you want, and no one will hear you. If I was in your position, I would—"

"Cana!" Levy shouted, slamming her book shut. "You're making Juvia uncomfortable." Guilt spread across Cana's face

"My, my bad…I didn't mean it that way. Sorry Juvia."

"No, i—it's fine Juvia was just shocked about the sudden question."

"Then, do you want to do it with him?"

"Cana!"

"It's fine! I'm just asking."

"O—of course…but, Juvia wants to wait for the right moment."

"So Juvia is the traditional type huh?"

"Ple—please change the topic!" Cana laughed heartily, taking a mouthful of alcohol.

"Alright, alright. So Levy, how was the job you went on?"

"Gajeel caused so much trouble! He first started to intimidate the client because he said the client had a bad attitude. Then, he caused more damage than he needed to." Levy continued ranting about Gajeel's faults, all the while wearing a fond smile. She took the liberty of exaggerating some parts of the mission for the sake of making the story more enjoyable. Juvia normally wouldn't bat an eye to these liberties, Natsu does it all the time. However, Levy normally doesn't do these kinds of things.

"Sounds like you had a lot of fun." Lisanna pointed out.

"It was, I could do without the destruction and trouble." Levy smiled dryly.

"Have you notice the stares Jet and Droy have for Gajeel?"

"No, what do they look like?

"Envy or jealousy I think."

"Why would they do that? I don't think Gajeel has something that is particularly worth envying over."

"Weeel, I think we all know what it is." Lisanna winked at the girls in the chat. We but Wendy all nod.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll let you figure out that one. I'm sure you can!"

"Cana!?"

"Sorry, it's more fun for you to figure it out yourself."

"Laki?"

"Same here."

"Then, Juvia!?"

"Sorry to say, Juvia can't help you, though Juvia most likely understands Jet-san and Droy-san more than anyone else here."

"Pleaseee?" Levy's eyes didn't have any worry she had before. Now it's just hungering to find out the truth.

"Like Lisanna said, you'll figure it out. Besides, isn't more fun to do it without help?"

"That's true but, I don't like how all of you are leaving me in the dark…" The doors of the guild opened, a blushing Lucy walked in, followed by an equally red Gray. "Luc-chan!" Levy dove into Lucy that was coming towards us. "Listen! They're hiding something from me."

"Wha—what happened?" After hearing Levy's explanation, Lucy also held an apologetic expression. "Sorry…I can't tell you."

"You too!?"

"Just run through the reasons why someone would get jealous and you'll find out. You're smart right?"

"Fine!" Levy huffed and sat back down.

"Never mind that, can you tell us why you two can in so red?" Laki probed.

"That's…" Lucy squirmed on the spot. "something I just can't say…"

"So how was your date Lucy?" Juvia asked after getting a closer look at Lucy's clothing. While they were the usual shorts and T-shirt, they were slightly messy like someone just grabbed them. The biggest giveaway was the red spot just barely peeking out from Lucy's collar. If Lucy had a darker skin, Juvia wouldn't have noticed.

"Juvia!?"

"But to do it so early in the morning…Juvia is jealous, Natsu won't wake up early enough to enjoy the rising sun like you two did."

"How did you know?"

"Why else would you have a date in the morning? Also, your boots are muddy. Juvia should know better than anyone that walking up a mountain after the rain will leave those marks."

"Good going Juvia!" Cana cheered. Quickly slugging an arm over Lucy, Cana pulled Lucy over to us. "Did you two do anything else there?"

"We…we were just making out!"

"Is that so?" Cana threw her arms behind her head, releasing Lucy. "Ahh! I want a boyfriend too! Loretta, you think so too right?" Cana turned to Loretta that was silently listening to our conversation.

"Well, training has been taking too much of my time to think about relationships. Besides, I plan on study abroad once I satisfy father's requirements, so finding a partner feels wrong if I'm just going to leave for four years or so. But, if I have to say, I think having a boyfriend will be lovely."

"Didn't you finish your magic training not too long?"

"Around the end of June, yes. I still have some remaining time, so I asked Erza to teach me her magic." Loretta's face paled looking back at Erza's training methods.

"That sounds tough…"

"Well, I did ask her to push me to my limits, I want to learn her magic before I leave."

"Don't worry, by the end of next week, I'm sure you'll get it down." Erza cut in, back from her trip to Master's office. "I would hate to have you leave without at least a month of making memories with us."

"About that, I spoke to my parents to see if I can become a full-time wizard once I come back from my studies. They agreed so, please take care of me once I come back!"

"You can count on it!" Erza pounded her breastplate. "By the way, Lucy, Juvia is done with her house, tell Gray that we'll come visit at six."

"Got it!" Lucy gave Erza a thumbs-up.

"That's not fair!" Levy complained. "I want to see Juvia's new house too! Don't you all?" Everyone in our group nodded.

"Then, let Juvia ask Natsu." Juvia spotted her lover in a spar with Elfman. "Natsuuu!" He turned around to face Juvia, dodging Elfman's right hook at the same time. "Come over here for a second!" Natsu avoided another blow just by casually strolling to us.

"What's up?"

"Everyone here wants to check out our house, is that okay with you?"

"The more, the merrier right?" Natsu walked back to an angry Elfman that was most likely claiming Natsu's actions being 'Unmanly'.

"And there you have it, please come to our house by six, Juvia will cook dinner too, so don't worry about eating."

"Sad that Mira-nee leaves really late, she really would love to come with us."

"She has lots to do after all." The remaining conversation devolved to mindless chatter; a way to enjoy ourselves and to kill time. Juvia left with Natsu to prepare for the guests that we'll be receiving.

* * *

Juvia spent the remaining hour or so in cleaning up the house, throwing away the packaging, dusting the house, rearranging some items Juvia didn't like. Natsu was helping out with moving furniture to places that Juvia felt to be more appropriate. But more than anything, he brought back a boar he found when he was burning some trash outside. While cooking game was something Juvia wasn't experienced in, going on trips with Natsu taught Juvia a few things. Lessons from Bisca on skinning and butchering animals played a big role in the process of preparing the boar.

By the time Juvia finished cooking dinner, knocks announced our friend's arrival. Ever since Juvia moved in, Natsu started locking the doors. He mentioned that carrying a key is strange, so Juvia ended up carrying a key for the both of us.

"Coming!" Natsu hopped down the couch and ran to the door. "Yo!"

"Good evening." Erza greeted. "Hope we're not bothering you two."

"Come in! Dinner's ready. Oh! Leave your shoes on that shoe rack over there, Juvia gets mad if you don't" Natsu said, not caring about Erza's concerns.

"That's only because you came in after playing the rain with Happy!" Juvia shouted, pulling out two large loaves of bread using the oven mitts Lisanna gave Juvia. People started pouring in into the wooden flooring, starting from the stoic Erza and ending at a blasted Cana. Despite having so many people come in, Juvia is surprised that the living didn't become cramped—Juvia did make sure the house is big enough for her kids to run around in. It was made in a shape of a 'L', with the longer portion used for eating, and the shorter part held two couches surrounding a coffee table. To complete a rectangle, was Juvia's kitchen. Looks like the ones enjoying the large space first wasn't her kids…

Laid out on the oval dining table, was a massive feast that even Natsu alone can't eat. The guests looked at the walls to find some photos Juvia framed—including the picture we took at the picnic. A potted plant grew in the corner where Juvia couldn't think of what to put there.

"We'll start our tour after we eat!" Juvia said as she placed a bowl of soup along with a slice of bread to each plate. "Please help yourself!" Juvia took the seat next to Natsu and waited for the them to sit down.

"Quite a banquet you got here." Lisanna commented while looking at the amount of food the table. "I'm honestly amazed that the table isn't bending."

"That's because the table is marble. Juvia can't trust a wood one knowing Natsu's appetite." Juvia covered the table with a cloth so that they couldn't tell what it's made from.

The dinner was well received, no one complained about Juvia's food. Though Juvia will be complaining at the amount of dishes she will have to do later. For now, there're taking a bath. Juvia pointed to the corridor leading from the couches.

"That goes to our first bathroom, storage and Natsu's workout area, we don't have a basement or attic after all. The storage is mainly empty since we don't have much stuff yet. Juvia is sure that upstairs is what you all are interested in." Getting nods, Juvia guided them upstairs. Another corridor that expands into five rooms, three in front of us, and two sandwiching the stairs we came from. "The two on the furthest right and the middle room are the only ones being used, the rest are guest rooms for now." On the occupied rooms, two distinct door plates that told the respective owners of the room.

"Carla, want to come in my room?" Happy asked, voice filled with hope.

"If it gets you to stop pestering me." And the two Exceeds disappeared behind a white door. Juvia opened the door to our bedroom and ushered the guests inside. A king-size bed laid on an ash carpet at the middle of the room. On each side a night stand with distinct items that told people which side of the bed was who's. The left had nothing on it while the right one has a jewelry box, glasses case and a lamp.

"And I think we know which wardrobe yours is Juvia." Cana pointed to the bigger cupboard with two doors and a bottom drawer. Natsu's wardrobe only has one door and is shorter than Juvia's. A lone dressing table was sitting in a corner of the room.

"Next, is the most important room in the floor." Juvia gestured the everyone to follow Juvia to middle room. Once Juvia opened it, a long rectangle room was shown to everyone. Every side of the wall was covered in job requests and memorabilia's. Already, it was an overwhelming sight, and that's not including the things that's hanging from the ceiling. Everyone was stunned by the sight of the room, walking around and pointing out things they recognized from their adventures with Natsu.

"Juvia, can I have a moment?" Lucy said.

"Sure. Natsu, you handle the rest."

"Got it!" Juvia followed Lucy back downstairs and to the empty storage room.

"I don't think Natsu can hear us from here."

"What's the matter?"

"I'll cut straight to the point, when do you plan to propose to Natsu?"

"Wha—what's this all of the sudden!?"

"You want to right?"

"Yes but, we need to take more time to know each other and—"

"Juvia, you know that's not needed."

"But we're so young! Juvia is only nineteen this year you know!?"

"What's the difference between marrying early or later? Both of you are loyal, and I don't see you two changing minds any time soon. Why not just go for it?"

"Isn't it strange for a girl to propose though?"

"Not at all, Bisca did it."

"Juvia thinks that his pride won't it."

"His love for you disregards all that."

"Then, when should Juvia do it?"

"That's for you to choose, just get a ring ready so you can do it at any time. Of course, you make the final decision, I'll leave you to think about it." Lucy waved as her left the storage, leaving Juvia conflicted as to how she should advance her relationship with Natsu.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! So I'm finally starting to wrap this up, I say that this story has around two chapters left, give or take one chapter.**

 **So the main purpose of this chapter was for me to dabble with dialogue flow, one of my favourite things about talking with someone is seeing the seamless transition from one topic to another. So I wanted to try emulate it in this chapter. Let me know how I did, was there any parts that seemed a bit awkward?**

 **Anyway, I still want to know what you guys think about adding more of Juvia's delusions to previous chapters. I still haven't receive any opinions on that matter. Also, still looking for pairing ideas! Got any interesting one? Hit me with them!**

 **Until then, hope you enjoyed, and have a nice day!**


	34. Chapter 34: One Last Step

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

Juvia was still figuring out what to do from the house visit. It's already been three months. Loretta was acknowledged as a full-fledged wizard and has now left Fiore. After all that has happened, Juvia still can't decide whether to propose to Natsu or not. Sure, everyday waking up was like a dream and Juvia wishes that it will never end, but there's still a voice that says it's too early for us to marry. And every time, Lucy's words would remind Juvia that it's just an irrational thought of Juvia's. So Juvia choose to pay a visit to Juvia's favourite counsellor: Mirajane.

"So, what happened to you to warrant a visit to my house?" Mira said, taking a sip from a tea cup and setting it back down on a saucer. In a dim, romantic lighting; during the darkest of the night. Mira sat on an armchair with a look that's ready to give out wisdom.

"You see, during the house visit, Lucy suggested that Juvia should propose to Natsu." Juvia twiddled with her thumbs while sitting on another black armchair, hands holding on a cup of tea.

"So you're troubled because of this?"

"Yes…"

"I see. There's no doubt that you two love each other very much, I don't see a big problem in you two marrying at such a young age."

"You think so too huh?"

"Yes, however, I don't think you should give it too much thought." Mira smiled with a sage-like look in her eyes.

"Then, you're saying that Juvia should trust her instincts?"

"Something along those lines." Juvia fell silent for a while, digging deep into her mind. The days Juvia spent with Natsu, all the joy we had, memories we made—all for them were something both irreplaceable to Juvia. They were the best moments of Juvia's whole life. Remembering the times we had wiped away the sea of thoughts and turned it to a single drop: Juvia wants to be with Natsu.

"Say if Juvia is trying to propose to Natsu, how should Juvia do it?"

"Have you prepared a ring?"

"Juvia said 'If'!"

"But the problem still stands, do you propose with a ring? Or without one? Personally, I don't think that Natsu will care about having a ring to symbolize you two coming together."

"Won't that come off as lazy or cheap?"

"Again, Natsu doesn't care about that, don't worry about it. Besides try to propose without sticking to conventional means. Remember, you're dealing with Natsu."

"That's true, he did say that he loves the weird side of Juvia."

"Even better. Then here's my advice: Don't use a ring to propose, try using something else, don't be influenced by the mainstream, it's your special moment, no one else's."

"Do you have anything in mind?"

"Let's see," Mira pouted as she thought, eyes losing their light, taking a drink every now and then until, she sighed. "I'm afraid here's where I can't help you, this is something that's for Natsu, you know him the most. Despite him being very simple, this is something I can't help you with. Sorry."

"No, no! You've been a great help so far, Juvia can't blame you for something that's originally Juvia's responsibility."

"While I can't give you the exact information one how to propose to Natsu, I can give you pointers."

"Juvia is listening." Juvia leaned in, signalling Mira to begin.

"As you know, the mood is important for these kinds of things. And since that your method of proposing in already unorthodox, do it in a setting that you two never see."

"Juvia has an idea."

"Good, the rest, I'll leave it up to you, do you have anything else you want to talk about? I don't when will I be free again."

"Then, can you tell Juvia about Natsu's childhood? He always so evasive about it."

"He wants to show you only his cool side I think. But don't worry, I'll tell you everything." A playful smile graced Mira's beautiful face.

"Please do." Juvia returned a similar smile at the lighter atmosphere.

Juvia woke up before Natsu as usual, her day would start out like this: After cleaning herself up, Juvia start cooking food for Happy as Natsu wouldn't wake for another hour or so. A meal with Happy later, Juvia will work on breakfast for Natsu—Juvia made him wake up earlier than before now that Juvia moved in. Then comes the fun part of waking up Natsu. Juvia and Happy will take turns in doing something silly to wake Natsu up. Travelling to the guild came after making sure Natsu finishes cleaning up and him eating breakfast.

Now in the guild, Juvia was standing in front of the job board to look for fun jobs to go on with Natsu.

"Juvia!" Lucy's voice caught Juvia's attention. "Come over here!" Juvia turned around and saw Lucy sitting with Gray and Erza.

"What is it?"

"Well…" Lucy's reluctant face told Juvia that she wants to go on a job with her team—Natsu included. "We're planning on—"

"Go ahead, Juvia won't stop you."

"Really!? I feel really bad taking Natsu away from you all the time."

"Don't worry, Juvia is planning on using this time to set up the surprise you wanted Juvia to do." Lucy became shocked and quickly turned supportive.

"So you're finally planning to do it!?"

"Yes, Juvia is going to do it."

"We're all supporting you!"

"Yes!"

"Then you don't mind if we take Natsu for a job?"

"No problem, when are you going?"

"In three days, assuming Natsu agrees to go with us."

"How long is the job?"

"Around a week."

"More than enough time."

"So you're getting a ring in that time?"

"Not a ring, Juvia will get him something else."

"What do you have in mind?" Juvia's enthusiasm dampened at the question.

"That's the thing, Juvia hasn't figured it out yet, only that Juvia should not follow the norm."

"I see. Well, we'll leave it up to you then, good luck."

"Juvia will try her best!"

Contrary to Juvia's eagerness, Natsu left and Juvia still hasn't made any headway in what to propose Natsu with. Frustrated, Juvia thought of Natsu, his charming face, intoxicating eyes, stimulating scent, seductive build. Then Juvia moved to what Natsu is wearing. Hit with a sudden spike of inspiration, Juvia quickly dug out a lacrima and connected it to a village.

"Nick-san? Can Juvia call in a favour?"

* * *

It's finally complete! Juvia's days of hard work paid off! Lying on the bed, was a scarf that was similar to the one that Natsu wears right now, just blue and not white. The checked pattern is still there, Juvia would hate to get rid of such a good design. Now that is left to do is to wait for Natsu to come back and ask him out on a date.

"I'm home!" "Aye!" Natsu and Happy announced.

"Welcome back!" Juvia was preparing a meal for the two knowing how they most likely didn't eat anything—especially Natsu because he either threw up his meal or didn't eat anything to minimize the damage on the way home. "Sit down, lunch is almost ready."

"You're the best Juvia!" Natsu said over his growling stomach. Happy was already eating a raw fish that he pulled out from the fridge.

"You two go eat, I'm going to find Carla."

"Good luck buddy!"

"Aye!" And the cat flew off with impressive speeds.

"Nastu?"

"What is it?"

"Do you think we could go watch the sun rise together tomorrow?" Juvia added a bit of shyness to her voice, not wanting to leak out her excitement.

"What's with you all of the sudden?"

"Well," Juvia shuffled on the spot while holding a ladle. "Juvia saw that Gray and Lucy watch the sun rise together and got jealous."

"Is that it? Sure, we can go!"

"But you'll have to wake up really early…"

"If it's for you, I'll deal with it." Natsu smiled.

"Thank You." Juvia placed a plate of food in front of Natsu. "As thanks, here one of your favourites."

"Really!? Thanks, Juvia!" Natsu started eating at his usual pace, while Juvia went into our room to hide the gift that Juvia prepared for her proposal.

* * *

Tonight, Juvia couldn't sleep at all, her heart was racing at the thought of proposing to Natsu. Even though Juvia knows that Natsu won't do it, there's still a strand of thought that asked Juvia: what if he rejects Juvia? That was soon erased as Juvia saw Natsu's peaceful face. He wasn't snoring like the few occasional nights; just soft puffs of air would escape the dragon slayer's mouth. As always, Natsu somehow finds his way to embrace Juvia that was hugging the doll she made. He was facing Juvia, with his arms wrapped around her waist, legs mingling with Juvia's. It's time like this when Juvia would question Natsu's intelligence. Is he faking it? The reason for this, is because every time we sleep like this, Natsu would end up using Juvia's breasts as a pseudo-pillow, one way or another. It's troubling on a day like this because Juvia is hoping that the pounding of her heart doesn't ruin the cute and docile face. Other times, Juvia doesn't mind because that just means Juvia gets to observe Natsu sleeping in a more detailed way. In the end, Juvia didn't get a single hour of sleep.

For the first time ever, Juvia woke Natsu up at a time earlier than eight. We were climbing up a mountain two hours before sunrise. To make sure that nothing goes wrong, Natsu was using his magic to light up the way, revealing over-grown roots and large rocks that may have hindered our climb.

"Natsu, Juvia knows you're tired, but you knew what you were getting yourself into." JUvia reminded the yawning Natsu, who's footsteps were shaky at best.

"I know but, I'm still sleepy." Juvia reached into her packed that held her gift and pulled out a round pellet.

"Here, have a mint."

"You know I hate those things." Natsu grimaced.

"Just so you know, Juvia didn't get any sleep and Juvia isn't complaining, now hurry up and eat it."

"Fine…" Natsu held the pellet in his hands and stared at it like it's an adversary that he must beat. Closing his eyes, Natsu tossed the thing in his mouth and started chewing. The reaction was instant, Natsu threw his head back at the strong taste of mint rampaging in his mouth. "How much did you put in there!? It hurts!"

"The right amount." Juvia giggled and enjoyed Natsu's overreaction over a such a small thing. Juvia waited for Natsu to calm down before speaking. "Are you awake now?"

"Yeah…"

"Then let's go, we wasted a lot of time already."

"Fine…" The rest of the hike was uneventful as we walked continuing our usual banter without a care in the world.

Finally, we reached the perfect spot that over looks Magnolia. Seeing a few orange lights from the house below did make Juvia curious as to who's awake at this time. However, that was overshadowed by the grand view we got of the town. The lively town being so sombre and romantic just wasn't something Juvia was used to seeing. With Juvia's head resting against Natsu's shoulders. We waited for sunrise.

At first, it was a line of gold peaking over another mountain. It grew bigger and the radiance it provided followed. A hemi-sphere then popped out, brushing the town with an amber light. We watched in awe as the sun slowly became brighter as it conquered the mountain it was behind. Juvia almost forgot what we were doing here. Until Natsu spoke up.

"Juvia, I'm glad you dragged me up here."

"You're welcome…"

"Juvia." "Natsu."

"May Juvia go first?"

"Sure."

"Juvia is so glad that Juvia met you. Juvia can't stress that enough, you saved Juvia more times than you think. Every moment Juvia spent with you was a dream come true, everyday was exciting, Juvia's love for you only grew. That's why…" As Juvia started to pull out her scarf, Natsu's words stopped Juvia.

"The same here, before when Gildarts was talking about love and how it changed him. I thought he was nuts. But now, seeing the perfect girl right here. I can't think that anymore. Juvia you were the best thing that ever happened to me—even more so than Fairy Tail…" Natsu's complicated expression was the signal for Juvia to keep pulling out the scarf.

"Juvia, please marry me!" "Natsu, please marry Juvia!" Both of us was bowing to each other, the only difference was that Juvia was holding out a blue scarf that was glowing ever so slightly. Over-loaded with emotions, we didn't say anything, staring into each other's eyes. We didn't need to; both of our faces were more than enough. Juvia threw herself to Natsu's chest, repeating 'Yes' over and over. Natsu gently pried away the scarf in Juvia's hands.

"This is?"

"A replacement for a ring that Juvia wanted to propose to you with. Mira said that Juvia should do something weird."

"You talked to Mira too huh?" Natsu said, while examining the scarf with care.

"Eh?"

"I asked Mira how I should propose to you, she told me to do it in my style."

"Then the reason why Mira told Juvia to not worry about proposing to you was because—"

"I talked to her first." Natsu was loosening his scarf. "But still, I'm must be the luckiest man alive." He put on the scarf Juvia made for him and wrapped the old one around Juvia. "To marry a girl like you."

"What are you—"

"That's yours now, cherish it for me." Natsu said with a warm smile.

"Juvia can't do that, it's the last thing you have to remember Igneel-san by. In the first place, Juvia never expected you to wear it, that scarf was too precious for you, Juvia was hoping that you hung it around the house and—"

"He wished for it."

"What…do you mean?"

"You met him too, right? Before he…" Of course, how could Juvia forget her promise to him before he left? To take care of Natsu. "He told me to give the scarf to you."

"Is that alright with you?"

"If it was anyone else? No way in hell. But if it's you, I'll even give you my life." Natsu's eyes burned with a strong passion, that made Juvia yield.

"Juvia doesn't need it." Juvia hugged Natsu. "Because, from now on, we are one."

"Then, let me add the finishing touches."

"Huh? What do you—" Natsu kissed Juvia with all the love he had—bottomless and undying. Juvia felt something that she never felt before the past kisses, it entered Juvia's mouth and travelled throughout her whole body, burning Juvia with an intense hellfire. Natsu pulled out and smiled.

"You thought that you were the only one with a present?" Natsu nodded to himself. "I love you even more now." Juvia was about to ask what he meant when Natsu reached out for Juvia's locks and showed her. At the tips of Juvia's hair a gradient from blue to pink transformed Juvia's hair. Because of curls at the end of Juvia's hair, the pink tips look like claws more than anything. "Now, everyone knows you're taken, anyone smart that is." Seeing Juvia's wavy hair having something new to them was exciting news, never in Juvia's life did she expect Natsu to give Juvia something like this. Juvia pulled one parts of her hair and played with them, heartbeat racing every time Juvia saw the pink colours.

"Thank You, Juvia loves them…" We turned our attention to the bright burst of light that hit our cheeks, the sun has fully risen, gracing us with a fantastic glow. We kissed once more, allowing the sun to cast a shadow of us in the moment.

"How do we tell the others?"

"Juvia is sure, just by looking at us, they'll know."

"Then let's stay like this for a while longer."

"Yes!" We laid down on the grass, facing each other, Natsu played with Juvia's hair, and Juvia tugged on his scarf, lost in our own world, not caring about anything else.

""What a weird way to propose."" We giggled like kids and watched the town slowly come to life.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! This should be the second to last chapter in this story. So, please mention anything weird about the story. I'll correct or adjust the chapters accordingly. I most likely won't update this story anymore so please don't hesitate!**

 **That being said, I want to know what you think about this chapter, I know that proposals in stories like this are a big part of it, so I want to know what you think of it!**

 **Again, keep the pairing ideas coming! Got some interesting ones so far, and I want to have a bigger pool of pairings to choose from.**

 **Until then, I hope you enjoyed! Have a great day!**


	35. Chapter 35: Third Time's a Charm

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

 **Also I have no idea how weddings work. I just worked with what I found on the internet and used cheap tricks to avoid writing too much about the wedding itself.**

 **Also, please read the non-bold text at the bottom**

* * *

If Juvia was so happy that her heart was bursting at being called Natsu's fiancée, Juvia wonders how will Juvia fare in a few short hours. Juvia arrived in the chapel earlier than she was supposed to. Juvia was then guided by Mira—one of the bridesmaids—to a room to change into the wedding dress. Though the wedding in a few hours away, Juvia is so nervous. Along the line, playing with Juvia's scarf became a habit whenever Juvia is nervous and Natsu isn't there with Juvia.

"You'll be fine Juvia."

"Juvia is still so nervous."

"But you look so lovely in that dress. I'm a bit jealous."

"That's not true, you modeled for a wedding dress advertisement before."

"But I was lacking a groom at the time, you got the full package." Mira helped Juvia with the finished touches of the dress. "I think you should take off the scarf, it doesn't match with the dress."

"You know Juvia can't do that, this scarf is precious."

"Then I'll keep it safe for you."

"Juvia refuse to." Mira smiled wryly at Juvia's stubbornness and held out her hand.

"Give it to me, I got an idea." Deciding to trust Mira, Juvia parted with the scarf and delivered it to Mira's hands. A white blur was left behind as Mira dove downwards and got inside the wedding dress.

"Mi—Mira! What are you doing!?" Juvia tried to move Mira out of the dress.

"Hold still." Mira used a hand to hold Juvia's right thigh in place. A warm, fuzzy thing wrapped around Juvia's right thigh that sent Juvia into panic. But it quickly disappeared as Juvia recognized it as Juvia's scarf. It tightened around Juvia's thigh as Mira tied it expertly. Mira's head popped out as soon as her job was done. "There, now it doesn't ruin the look and it's with you at all times."

"Thank You."

"Garter belts suits you by the way, I think Natsu would enjoy it." Mira smiled playfully.

"Mira!"

Now that Juvia is in a beautiful white dress, she's having her make-up done by a professional. Meanwhile, Lucy—another of the bridesmaids— along with Mira was trying to calm Juvia's nerves.

"Juvia, you know that this your special day, but I think that you're over-reacting."

"But Lucy, you're not in Juvia's shoes right now. What if something goes wrong? What if Natsu has to go somewhere? Or he gets a stomachache?"

"You're over-thinking things. You'll be fine. A shame that you can't wear the scarf."

"Juvia can't help it, it would look strange."

"Then where is it?"

"Tied to Juvia's right thigh. No way Juvia is leaving it back at home."

"And you're done!" The make-up artist exclaimed. "What do you think?"

"Perfect, you highlighted Juvia's good parts." Lucy commented.

"Stunning." Mira added.

"I think we're ready to go now." Putting on a veil, Juvia walked along a corridor to the venue, each step is driving Juvia insane, she put great care into making sure that Juvia doesn't trip, all the while trying to put her vortex of emotions under control. Juvia met up with Erza that was waiting for Juvia outside.

"Juvia, are you ready?"

"Yes!" Juvia grabbed onto Erza's arm as she escorted Juvia inside the chapel. A red carpet was laid out the middle of the road leading up three steps. Waiting for Juvia, was Natsu in a black tuxedo, his scarf was left untouched despite clashing with the suit, which made Juvia a bit guilty for hiding the scarf from him when he's showing it to the world proudly. Sitting on the pews, was the friends Juvia along her journeys, even Loretta came back for just for this occasion—playing 'The Bride's March' flawlessly.

Juvia exchanged greetings and waved at the guest as she passed by them, nodding to Master that was sitting on the front row with a tear in his eyes. Juvia left Erza and climbed up the steps alone. Juvia couldn't really hear what the offical was saying as Natsu stole every bit of Juvia's attention. Even now, Juvia think he's perfect.

"You look beautiful Juvia."

"You're quite dashing yourself."

"Nervous?"

"Very."

"Don't worry, it'll be over soon." Natsu smiled. Nastu taking Juvia's hands reminded Juvia of the procedures. "Juvia, you made me such a better man, you supported me no matter what, you loved me with everything you have. And for that, I promise from this day forward, to love you with my heart and soul, to treat you with care, to make you happy, to control myself for you." Chuckles overridden the vow. "Most importantly, I promise you that you'll be the only girl to occupy my heart, it beats for you as it does for me."

"Now Juvia," The officiant said. "please speak your vows." Juvia did as told.

"Natsu, Juvia made many mistakes in her life, spending time with you, loving you, is never one of them. You turned Juvia's life upside-down, pulled me into your embrace and showered Juvia with your love. Everything you've done for Juvia had no downside. Juvia promises from this day forward, to devote everything to you, Juvia's love, time, and body. Finally, Juvia promises to be forever graceful for every bit of time we share together."

"Natsu, do you take Juvia to be your wife?"

"I do."

"Juvia, do you take Natsu to be your husband?"

"I do." Natsu smiled at Juvia's response.

"By the power of your love and commitment to each other, and by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now share your first kiss as husband and wife. Congratulations." Natsu took off the veil and our lips collided instantly, creating a roar of cheers. If magic didn't exist, this moment, Juvia will describe as magical. To share a kiss like this with Natsu is created by nothing short of a miracle, everything fell in place, everything flown perfectly, everything feels so right. This burning sensation in Juvia's heart, the floating feeling in Juvia's head, magical.

* * *

A celebratory meal was held back in the guild, Juvia and Natsu held a knife, walking to the white wedding cake. We cut the cake together and the Fairy Tail celebration began, everyone came up to congratulate us for the marriage, to the point of becoming slightly tedious. Reedus presented us a portrait of our marriage, we asked him to take some artistic liberties since we hired someone to take pictures. The portrait was Natsu carrying Juvia bridal style, a bouquet of flowers was tossed in the air. In the background, Happy was courting Carla, Gildarts and Master was looking proudly at Natsu, many other of our family were smiling and doing their own goofy thing.

The party wasn't much different from the regular parties thrown. The food was more extravagant, decorations hung all over. Special guest came over, they were the same as the ones in Natsu's birthday. Being the focus of attention was strange. But not unwelcomed.

By the time we came back home, it was in the dead of night. We changed back into our old clothes, more importantly, the scarf was back on Juvia's neck.

"Natsu, about the honeymoon, are you sure you want to go back there?"

"I here it's a fun place to go."

"But it's a five-day boat trip."

"What matters is that you're happy."

"Juvia won't be for ten days."

"You will be afterwards, trust me."

"We'll worry about it later, let's go to sleep."

"No! We need to shower, you go first."

"You sure? We can go together."

"No—not now!" Juvia shouted with her face red in shame.

"Fine." Once Natsu went into the shower, Juvia called in Happy, telling him that it's something important.

"What is it Juvia?"

"Can you go sleep at Mira's house for tonight?" Juvia asked, not wanting to meet his eyes. Happy was confused at first, then he got excited and flapped his wings twice.

"Enjoy!"

"Sh—shut up!" The showers turned on, accelerating Juvia's heartbeat. Now that it's come to this, Juvia is starting to have second thoughts, mainly, performance anxiety kicked in. Juvia preparation are complete, and Juvia did promise to devote everything to him…

Seeing the Natsu walk in, Juvia quickly grabbed a towel, a change of clothes and rushed in the bathroom. Even though running water always calmed Juvia, this time, it acted as a timebomb, further setting Juvia's mind in disarray. Tonight, Natsu will release all his dormant lust for Juvia—if what he said on our picnic is anything to go by. To entice him further, Juvia picked out a set of lingerie that Juvia was planning seduce Gray with. It was a deep shade of purple, thin to the point of showing skin past the fabric. A pair of stockings supported by a garter belt was worn as a set. Now, all is left is to see his reactions.

Juvia walked out and head her way to the room, the lack of clothing and the cold of night made Juvia feel so venerable, the way the breeze brushed Juvia's navel was uncomfortable. Slowly, Juvia opened the door to our room.

"Finally, you're—woah! Why are you dressed like this?" For the first time ever, Natsu's raw lust focused on Juvia, just his stares are unbearable.

"Isn't it normal for newly-weds to do this?" Juvia walked closer to the bed—copying Cana when she's making use of her assets—exaggerating hip and leg movements. "B—besides, we need to fulfill Igneel-san's wish. And…Juvia wants practice."

"What do you mean?" Natsu's face grew redder as Juvia got close.

"You said that…Igneel wants at least t—wo grandchildren."

"You mean—" Juvia hugged Natsu.

"Not now, Juvia isn't old enough to handle a child. Until then, we're practicing."

"What about Happy?"

"Juvia asked him to leave earlier."

"So that's why I couldn't smell him."

"Do you not want Juvia?"

"No! I…I just—"

"It must have been hard right? Holding out for so long. Look at how heathy he is." Juvia pointed to the rising bulge beneath the quilt. "From what happened at the picnic, you been enduring it for all this time. How painful was it?" Natsu didn't answer. "Juvia choose to devote everything to you. You don't need to feel Juvia's heart to know how hard it's beating right? You can hear every, excited beat." Juvia pulled Natsu's hand and planted it above Juvia's heart. "Now you can feel it. Is there any doubt in your mind now?"

"No…" Natsu's fingers moved to cope a feel.

"Let Juvia do her duties as your wife, Juvia's duties right now is to release all the pent-up lust you had for Juvia." Juvia crawled up to Natsu's ear and whispered. "Let it all out, Juvia will receive it, no matter how crazy you get." Once Natsu forcefully kissed Juvia and a primal, guttural sound entered Juvia's ears. Juvia knows that this will be one, long night.

The next morning, Juvia woke up feeling tired, naked and embracing Natsu. Steam came off Juvia's head upon recalling Juvia's seductive side. That was Juvia!? Natsu stirred and woke up as well.

"Morning." Natsu yawned.

"Good morning, you were quite a beast last night."

"And I didn't expect to see another side of you."

"Th—that wasn't Juvia!"

"Then who was that angel I was with last night?" Natsu smirked.

"That was Juvia…" Juvia said in defeat, accepting her new side.

"You're weird alright."

"And you lose Juvia's kind of weird!" "And I love your kind of weird!" We laughed like children and enjoyed each other's company. Looks like, this expression wasn't just an expression, there really is luck behind it.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Now that this story is done, I really wonder how many times I wrote 'Juvia' from beginning to end. At one point, I copied the name 'Juvia' and spammed ctrl v every time I wanted to type Juvia. Maybe saved like, five minutes total?**

 **Thanks so much for sticking with me on this ride, it means a lot. I was hesitant to post anything, because I was afraid of what people would think. However, the support I got from you guys was amazing. Since this was the first romance story I ever written, it's very rough around the edges, I have no idea what I was doing, and looking at it from a critical point of view, I used lots of troupes from anime and light novels I read. But it's still great that many of you guys enjoyed it.**

 **As promised, I have added changes to the chapters some people pointed out, sadly, there wasn't much, so I only chapter 4 slightly, also explains a bit why I had Natsu hate mint during the hike.**

 **I want to take this time to thank a few individuals that took their time in putting their thoughts out there.**

* * *

 **First is LordTicky, you gave some pretty solid comments on the story, not to mention the first person to give me criticism in the story, telling me that the pacing was a bit off and some things didn't make sense. Though I haven't seen you in the reviews for a good while, I still want to Thank You for helping me grow as a writer.**

 **Next is Plain Old Trash, although I think my writing still doesn't deserve the praise you gave me, the words you said gave me lots of confidence in continuing the story. Thank You so much.**

 **Fir3Storm12 was super vocal about what he or she thought about the story, really gave an idea on what you guys like to see in the later chapters. Thanks for your kind words.**

 **DearlyFictitious, along with** **Fir3Storm12, was really vocal about where the story was going, it was great fun seeing your reactions to the developments of the story. Thank You**

 **Then I want to thank iywe, he told that I stressed too much Natsu eating food and portrayed him more as a glutton than in the source material. Also, he sent some kind words when my poll didn't go too well. Thank You very much.**

 **That's it from the people that helped me the most in writing this story, next I want to thank the (few)people that gave me suggestion on what to write next and gave me chapter ideas.**

 **BROnicorn gave me tons of suggestion on what to write next, I'm writing a few snippets to see what I like to choose the best one. Thanks for your suggestions.**

 **darkchannel30, so sorry for not using your idea on a chapter! However, I will consider it when writing my future story, your idea is super fun to write, and I hope you won't get too mad. Thank You for your input.**

 **Please keep in mind that these don't have any order to it, I'm thankful to all of you the same.**

 **Of course, I want to thank the people that decided to read my story! A nice community filled with different colours, thanks for reading!**

* * *

 **And I believe that's it! If I missed someone, hope you'll accept my apologies!**

Of course, I still want pairing ideas and here's how I'm going to present ideas for my next story. I'm going publish another story that's called 'Sampling' in there, you'll find snippets and parts of chapters that I wrote featuring different characters. For example, the first chapter is a excerpt of Hisui, then the next chapter will be Cana, so on and so forth. The main purpose of this is for you guys to choose my next project, I'll try to give you as many choices as possible but, inspiration can be fickle, so the choices will fluctuate.

Also, I plan to put all other trial writings for you guys to choose from. For example, once I'm done with my next story, I'll put more ideas for you guys to pick from. Say like I put X, Y and Z for project A, once project A is done, Y and Z will remain. Then I'll add V and W, leaving V, W, X, Y and Z to pick for project B.

I have two characters I'm planning to write on 'Sampling' and I don't mind to add more. Please keep them coming. However, that doesn't mean that all suggestions will make it into 'Sampling' I will filter some that I don't feel confident on doing a great job in, lack of a good idea also falls into this category. Hopefully, I'll get some ideas from you guys, I plan on explaining why I didn't choose which character, so if you got a good idea for a pairing I rejected, please tell me!

 **Until then, hope you enjoyed! Thanks again for the incredible support, and I hope to see you in my next story!**


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